The last customer

I spent a wonderful morning in Bishops Castle today. I went into a beautiful coffee house that was also a book shop and observed a tiny little market town thriving with locals and tourists like me, mooching around the ancient streets and enjoying a little sunshine.

On the way back we stopped for lunch in Aston on Clun near Craven Arms. Before going into the excellent Kangaroo Inn, we popped into the village shop next door. Today that shop closed for good.

Purely, by chance, we were the last customers ever. We had no idea and just walked in to find the shop keeper closing this lovely village shop for the last time.

Feeling compelled to buy something, my husband bought a bag of Maltesers and so that made him the very last customer to purchase something from that wonderful village shop. It was very sad, and for some reason we couldn't quite eat all of those Maltesers, just wanting to hold on to a few so we could remember how it felt - and tasted!

I had never been there before and will not have the chance to do so again but it made me think about all the chances that we have every day of our lives. Sometimes it's the last chance, or maybe it's something new that is worth pursuing, because we never know how long that opportunity will last for.

I felt quite emotional seeing a lovely village shop closing but I guess it may open the door for something else.

Village Shop - Aston on Clun, Shropshire

Inspired by others

A few months back I volunteered to be one of the judges for the Doris Gooderson short story competition which is held every year by my writing group Wrekin Writers.

At first I felt a bit daunted, especially when yesterday I was handed even more stories to read, yet I am really enjoying the experience and I am determined to delve into the next pile with equal enthusiasm.

I have been so inspired by reading other people's work and really wanted to give everyone an equal chance. Seeing so much of other writers work made me realise just how much effort they had put into it. It also made me think that every time we send something off there is still that element of luck. It can depend on the mood of the editor and what sort of day they are having, afterall they are human. They may be moved by a story, it may be too personal to them or it may just not be right for them, the time or the publication.

It's a great experience to read these stories and although I am not a famous publisher, I can appreciate a good story and admire how a writer can create a short story and bring it to life on paper when a total stranger reads it.

I have spent a lot of time recently writing non-fiction so this has given me a real boost to start on fiction again. I do realise that the short story publishing market is difficult at the moment but so many writers are out there showing that there is still a market!

It's so wonderful how infectious writing can be. Inspiration can come from so many directions. At the moment for me, it's from all the wonderful writers out there having a go!

I intend to be one of them!

The road is clear

So much has happened since my last post. Every time I wanted to write, something stopped me. My poor old horse was wrongly diagnosed by the vet and came within days of being put down - thankfully he's alive and kicking now, I injured my neck and had to take weeks off work and just recently one of my lovely hens died. To add to that I had terrible problems with Blogger not allowing me to comment on my own or anyone else's post. That is fixed now. It really was a pain as I like to reply and make comments when fellow bloggers have made the effort to say something.

I have tried during these times to get some writing done but I admit some of these things have felt like major hurdles. I just can't get motivated if I am feeling upset. I know most writers say it's important to write every day no matter what but I have to feel inspired to sit down and get any writing done.

Despite this, I have sent out a lot of work. My novel is with a few agents and I have sent my non-fiction idea plus a children's story to several publishers.

In the meantime I am also working through a freelance Journalism course which I am really enjoying. I signed up because I wanted to branch out into writing about other subjects than chickens and this course is certainly stretching me. I had to come up with a celebrity round-up idea for my last assignment and although I don't hold much hope of getting to interview any of the celebrities I selected, it was a good experience to complete the tutorial exercise.

My tutor has also made me feel a lot better in that she thinks it is good to specialise in some areas. I know most of my success has come from writing chicken related articles and for a while I felt a failure in not tackling other things but now I am striking a happy balance and pitching ideas to Poultry magazines as well as other areas of interest.

So far since starting the course I have pitched ideas for another three articles ( I admit one is about chickens!) The other two are completely different subjects one of which is looking hopeful and the other two pending. I was even asked by one editor how much I expected in payment. This was difficult as I did not want to show my in-experience by asking too little or too much. Fingers crossed she may feel I made a reasonable offer.

I really feel like I have re-charged my energy levels and feel motivated to get cracking on some new ideas as well as my existing projects. For now the road is clear and I intend to look far ahead and see what happens.

Magical Morville

I spent a few magical hours at the Dower House Gardens, Morville yesterday to celebrate the launch of a lovely new book 'Shropshire Butterflies' This beautifully illustrated book takes you through a whole year of the various breeds of butterflies in Shropshire. From cover to cover it feels like it's bursting with nature as each page reveals a glorious poem or piece of prose from writers spanning the country.

There was one contributor I was very keen to meet as it was only recently that I learned of my distant cousin Ruth Stacey. Ruth writes poetry and has a lovely poem called Hedge Brown inside this book.

It's amazing, as it was purely through 'Facebook' that we met and I discovered her love for writing poetry. I follow her fascinating blog called mermaids drown which is well worth a look at. See http://mermaidsdrown.blogspot.com/

It was so exciting to meet her. On paper our family tree shows us as 3rd cousins twice removed but now on meeting her, feel that we are certainly not so distant afterall. It was great to talk about our ancestors and learn that the same things inspire her to write as they do me.

From the left my Mother, centre Ruth and me.

The gardens are magical too and I can see why the writer and artist Katherine Swift who came to live at the Dower house in 1988 was so inspired to write the Morville Hours and her most recent book, the Morville Year. Katherine also has a contribution in 'Shropshire Butterflies'

The wonderful thing is that some of the proceeds from this book will go to the conservation of Butterflies. If you want to buy a copy and help our wonderful wildlife as well as enjoying this gorgeous book see http://www.fairacrepress.co.uk/ to order a copy.

Above the Dower house gardens

Second hand memories

I bought this lovely book yesterday from a second hand bookshop. It immediately appealed to me before I even opened the cover. I flicked through quickly and decided to buy it straight away.

It wasn't until I reached home that I opened it properly to find an old newspaper cutting and some scribbled notes on some very old computer paper. It was so touching to think that someone had left those clippings in there for over 15 years and I started thinking who was this person, they obviously like to work in the garden but like to scribble and jot things down too. I found it quite touching that I had someone's ideas and memories inside that book.

I shall leave them there and may add my own scribble to them over the years. My garden often inspires me to get creative. In fact I have just created a medieval herb garden and a mini Jurassic park! So, I may just add a few notes on that to my new creative gardening book.

That is the wonderful thing about writing, no matter how small or insignificant our jottings may appear at the time, it's so magical to think that they may end up somewhere quite unexpected in years to come to bring a smile to someone's face.

The dreaming spires

I recently made a visit to Oxford and was captivated by the 'city of dreaming spires', a phrase coined by the poet Mathew Arnold.

There is such an incredible atmosphere there and creativity seems to wash over you wherever you walk. I popped into a tiny newsagent to buy a couple of postcards. The young lad serving was writing music on a scrap of notepaper while he tended the shop. Wonderful!

It was fascinting to hear conversations of the students as they came out of the colleges bursting with inspiration and talking of poetry.

The picture above is the Eagle and Child and is one of the most inspiring pubs I have ever been to. This is where CS Lewis and Tolkien would sit with other writers and discuss their work.

The plaque below is on the wall of the pub, just in the back room where they would sit by the fire discussing their writing.



I felt that I wanted to sit there and let all that creativity seep into my body. I felt the instant urge to write something myself so whipped out my trusty notebook and pen to start scribbling something down.

I started thinking about my own writing group ( Wrekin Writers) and how great it is to be part of a circle of like minded people in a group where you never feel foolish when discussing future projects.

It is so important to be able to talk to other writers, I have gained so much advice and inspiration from them over the years of being a member.

I found it amazing how places can really inspire me as well as people. Maybe one day there will be a plaque on a wall for Wrekin Writers . We have certainly left so much of our creative energy on the retreats that we have visited over the years!

Things to do

I really managed to clear my Things to do list last week. It's a great feeling to tick off all my bits and bobs of and start a new one.

I started my Freelance Journalism course and managed to submit my first assignment which feels great. I really feel it will help me develop as a more versatile writer and able to tackle other subjects. My mind was a whirl on Monday morning when I received the first tutorial. I wanted to get cracking straight away but had to go to work. An unexpected half day and early finish on Friday was a huge help though and I was able to spend several hours on it, as well as coming up with future ideas.

I also did quite a lot of poultry related writing which has paid off too. My hens are going to appear in 'Your Chickens' magazine in the next few months after I sent a small pitch to the editor who wanted to know more and asked for extra photos too.

I carried out my first Internet interview with a complete stranger, again this is for a Poultry magazine but I felt I may as well tap into my interests despite trying to branch out into writing about other topics. Nothing wrong with writing about what I do know (well, at least until I know something else!)

I was very pleased with how it went as I was dreading asking the wrong type of questions which would show my in-experience but it went very well and I got some wonderful material which I have already pitched as an idea to yet another magazine.

I am still waiting to hear from my three main projects and the submissions I sent early this year. I have my novel, a non-fiction book and a children's story out at the moment. It's awful waiting but at least I am using the time generating even more stuff to send out.

So the beginning of a new week and a fresh Things to do list. Just hope I can tick a few more off this week.