Month: April 2022
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Family fun . . .
I’m beginning to think that families exist to keep us safely grounded. Besides the obvious, I mean. We stick with families because sometimes we need to be teased! Well, perhaps the teasing turns merciless, and that’s not good. But good-natured and with love, that sort of teasing, that feels healthy and perceptive. I was on…
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The joy of persistence
Halfway through my editing odyssey, I know it’s not really Homeric, but it does feel like I shall have to begin again when I reach the end. After all, my first novelistic attempt went through seven drafts, while my second became a rather convoluted series of fragments searching for a story. This third novel feels…
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Can pretend joys become real ones?
When lonely Geppetto carved out a wooden boy to keep him company, he didn’t realise that the magic of creation might reveal a hidden side. But perhaps his effort was an early manifestation of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, the work of imagining a better way, rather than letting the negative ruminations overwhelm. I do not like…
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Sometimes, the joy is better the longer the wait . . .
When my mower, aka Plough-poo-mulcher, bit the dust a month ago, I despaired. I could see that nobody here in the UK stocks a replacement part for the mowing deck any longer; it’s long been retired. But the John Deere brand is hugely popular stateside (apparently we can thank the invention of the mass-produced steel…
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Unexpected joy on a frosty morning . . .
The world is a small place. I thought I’d take a quick snap of the lovely sparkling frost covering the garden this morning, and when I returned to the kitchen table to upload the image, my brother’s snap of his own frosty morning (yesterday’s) pinged into the laptop. Our mother related with great glee how…
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A task completed . . .
In this blog I celebrated, nearly a month ago now, the completion of the first draft of my manuscript, Daughters of Eden, which had turned out to be the bona fide finale of the science/climate fiction series I’ve been working on for the past three years. Today I’m celebrating the completion of the packaging side.…
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When the present accommodates the past, joyfully . . .
I’ve been revisiting parts of my past life, off and on quite consistently over these last few years. Many times it’s with a groan of recrimination, a ‘wish I could have done better’ feeling. This morning, thanks to an intriguing series of notes from my brothers, I’m learning that forgiveness is a two way street…
Roads to Joy 