Psy-chic? Me? I'M TOO BUSY WRITING...

I've always wondered if I was a little bit psychic.  So when I saw this notice whilst in Cumbria earlier this year, I couldn't help but take a photo (with apologies to the real psychic Marilyn, of course.)

 





 

It all started when I was very young and I used to sense what other people were going to say to me, or know what was going to happen next. It was quite a while before I realised that this didn't happen to everyone. Then I began to get feelings about where I was going to live or work in the future - often  it was somewhere I'd never been before.  By the time  I was in my thirties I'd developed the knack of knowing who was on the end of the phone when it rang.  This proved very useful  in business as I could  often practise the answer to the question in advance!

If all of this is true though, of course, it doesn't make me psychic. The true test came when friends and family started to ask me what was going to happen to them in the future. Quite simply, I had no idea!

 

Which, thankfully, is why I became a writer. The amazing thing about writing is that you can imagine

anything you like to get the words down on to the page.

It's easier than looking into the future. And so much more

productive. Now where did I put my crystal ball point pen?



Wood you like to join me?

This is my new writing place - a wooden arbour tucked away at the back of the garden. My fascination with words started when I was very young and my mother taught me to recite poetry.  The first  poem I ever learnt went like this:

  Old Wood gave me some wood and said would I carry the wood through the wood. And Wood said if I would he would give me the wood, and if Wood said he would, Wood would!

This showed me the importance of  punctuation and intonation when reading out loud, and demonstrated how words could be spelt differently even when they sounded  exactly the same.

The other poem that I have never forgotten was even more prosaic.

It was a dark and stormy night
And the rain came down in torrents
And the Captain said to the mate
'Bill - spin us a yarn'
So Bill began...

It was a dark and stormy night
And the rain came down in torrents
And the Captain said to the mate
'Bill - spin us a yarn'
So Bill began...

I'm still waiting to hear how it ends... 

Wine patch, anyone?

Today I'm going to talk about wine. Or should I say the lack of it.  For some reason I have always been able to write more effectively, vibrantly even, after a couple of glasses of red wine; my characters start to do things that are, well, out of character.  This is great because it enables me to decide whether the plot needs to go in another direction, or if the character  has a devious side that even I didn't know about. The problem is that I'm on medication  the moment, in the form strange plaster-like things that deliver a powerful drug that  finds its way to my spine without directions.  Under these circumstances, alcohol is banned, and I wouldn't dream of breaking the rules.  (Oh, well maybe I have the odd dream on the subject, but that's another story.)  I've been wondering lately whether it might be possible to have alcohol patches in the future - the kind that give you a psychological lift without the headache, so to speak, which could even lead to the offer of a three book deal...(just joking.) Some of my writer friends have admitted to getting inspiration from the odd gin and tonic, as if  their imaginations are heightened by the experience, their  writers' block a thing of the past...

When my father was in hospital many years ago, after a serious operation which left him unable to eat or speak, the nurses asked if we could think of anything that might cheer him up.
'Well,' I said, 'he obviously hates not  being able to work, and I' sure he'll be missing his regular pint.'
The following day when I arrived at visiting time, the senior nurse was beaming. 'We've given your dad half a pint of Guinness, straight through the tube in his arm, she said triumphantly. 'It certainly seems to have done the trick.' She was right, it did.
 .
Looking back, this  genuine act of kindness must have broken every rule in the hospital manual and a few more besides.  And it still makes me feel humble, even after all these years, to think of how a simple gesture caused so much pleasure. So, cheers, Dad, wherever you are.   Glass of lucozade anyone??

The Versatile Blogger - I'm all for increasing traffic...

I'd never heard of The Versatile Blogger before - but now, it seems, I am one! Along with quite a few others, I might add, but what's wrong with that?  So thanks to hannercymraes, otherwise known as Elizabeth Jane in Melbourne, Australia, for nominating me and giving me a chance to find out what so many fellow bloggers are up to behind the anonymity of their laptop screens.

The 'award'  is a way of putting people in touch with each other, from what I can gather, and increasing the flow of traffic to our words of wisdom. Come to think of it, a blog must be the only place in the world where increased traffic is welcome...

To follow the rules I have to list seven random things about myself that I haven't mentioned before - so here goes:

1  My nickname is 'froggy' though I've no room here to explain why. (Don't worry - I've heard all the jokes about  being green and ugly...)

2  I would give anything in the world to buy a home in Guernsey, the place I was born, but  island law won't permit it. (Unless I become a multi-millionaire, of course - all donations welcome.)

3  I'm terrified of flying long-haul and regularly turn down the offer of a trip to Florida where some family friends have a holiday villa.

4  My childhood was very unhappy and still haunts me sometimes, but I don't think you can write without having experienced emotional pain.

5  My late father, Harry Brown, was credited with inventing the 'gossip column' and I'd love to see his life portrayed up there on the big screen... (yes, I've written the story - stand in an orderly queue, film directors.)

6  My children and my two-year-old grandchild have made me who I am.

7  Seventh and last - I am embarrassingly superstitious and the number seven has always brought me luck!

The rest of the rules are simple: post a link to the person who gave you the award, award 15 newly discovered blogs, and lett them know you have nominated them.

That's it for now - I will let you know my favourite bloggers very soon.




Hanner Cymraes

Shakespeare's Sisters...

Oh to be in Stratford when September's here...

(With apologies to Robert Browning - and Shakespeare - of course)

I've just spent two days in  Shakespeare land with my favourite sisters - Diane and Elaine. Everything was perfect - from the white swans swimming on the Avon to the lovely guy who insisted on taking a photo of us all by the river. Stratford  understands tourists. The locals are proud of its history ( so they should be) and recognise the financial stability it brings - and thankfully no-one tried to sell me a Bard mug!  There were flowers everywhere - outside shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels and pubs - and everyone was smiling
Just one complaint - the railway station was a relic of another age.  If I was an American tourist, I'd have turned right round on Platform 3 and made my way home again. Come on England - we can do better than that...

A summer Tale..

                My favourite place to write is in my own garden-who says we haven't had a summer?

                        And summer wouldn't be summer without some Guernsey photos, too...

Can anyone spot the Guernsey cows?

My daughter beat the deadly E.coli...

One of the hardest features I've ever had to write concerned my then 25-year-old daughter, Amy, who almost died from food poisoning in 2002.  Reading about the latest E.coli outbreak in Germany brings it all back to me.

Amy had just started a new job as a teaching assistant in Lancaster, when she rang and asked if she could come home for the weekend.  Surprised, as she had recently found herself a flat, her Dad and I said yes and awaited her arrival.  She didn't make it.

After further frantic calls saying she was  violently sick and unable to walk, we collected her from Lancaster. Within 24 hours she was in Blackpool Victoria Hospital with acute kidney failure. She was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit of the Royal Preston Hospital where she remained for the next six months.

Amy had HUS (Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome), a deadly complication of E.coli that usually affects young children. It caused major organ failure from which she was not expected to recover. As a vegetarian she had not eaten contaminted beef which, at the time, was thought to be the major culprit.

Against all the odds, Amy eventually came out of the coma, unable to walk or speak, and unaware of what had happened to her.  The school in Lancaster kept her job open for her and, almost a year to the day, she returned to work, to an amazing welcome.

Today she is happy and healthy and  engaged to be married.  Her story is a wonderful testament to the doctors at Preston who told us that her case was so rare, they didn't know how to treat it.

My heart goes out to the families in Germany.

You can read a version of Amy's story on the HUSH website:www.ecoli-uk.com under testimonies.

Life's an empty beach...

Where in the world could you go in May and find yourself an empty beach with the sun shining above and the wind rippling on the water?  Try Guernsey - I just did and the peace and sheer beauty of this friendly island never fails to amaze me....

Then there are the flowers that grow by the roadside.....

And this time, the first ever Guernsey Literary Festival which was a huge success!  Not to mention, of course, the wonderful  yellow butter and  delicious Guernsey cream which bring back happy memories of my childhood. 'Cheery for now' as the local people say.  I'll be back.