Tonight, Friday, I was lucky enough to meet Bonnie Garmus, the author who wrote the best-selling novel, Lessons in Chemistry. She was at the Tyneside Cinema to launch her new book Peck & Peck.
Her success for her brilliant debut novel, in her early 60s inspired me to think maybe I could publish my manuscript? Due to her inspirational tale, I plucked up my courage and out came The Stand-Up Mam two years later.
Bonnie won a Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) award a few years ago and my dream was to also win one of those, to get confirmation my writing wasn’t rubbish! It was a pinch me moment to stand with her and realise I now have two novels out in the world and did get a CWIP award – runner-up still counts in my view 😊.
Next Thursday, 12 November I’m part of an event at Wallsend Library with three great, North East writers, Helen Aitchison, Elle Blair and Kate Varley. I’m really looking forward to it and have enjoyed reading their novels, Finding Arthur Whitle, In Deep Water and The Thin Green Wedge respectively. The link for tickets is here.
My novel, The Allotment Sisterhood, is getting some lovely reviews including this one on Amazon from Lanya which said ‘Whilst it was full of secrets and twists and turns, it’s a cosy read you can curl up with and take time to smell the roses…’ I was hoping it might make a reader take time to enjoy precisely this type of peace.
I had a great celebration of my new novel at Port Independent in Sunderland last Friday, just before 31 October - very fitting as it was originally called Halloween Lanterns. Jay Sykes asked some great, insightful questions about my writing process, what inspired the story and the characters. It will become one of his ArtyParti podcasts in the future so you can hear the discussion yourself.
Before the cold weather took hold I had a last-minute holiday in Porto. What an amazing city, with beautiful bridges, delicious food and so many independent shops. However, it also gifted me with one of the most extraordinary evenings I have ever spent in a European city.
All through the week I had spotted a growing number of students in smart University gowns and by the last night there were hundreds of them. It transpired all of Porto University students gather for an annual concert by gifted students, at one minute past minute, as part of the welcome to the new intake.
By midnight the central, grand square, Praca da Liberdade, had around 2,000 young people in immaculate gowns, white shirts and black ties. There was a stage with their most talented singers and musicians performing stunning music. The whole atmosphere was like Hogwarts ramped up to 1000! No-one was drunk or being disrespectful and it was such a spine-tingling pleasure I would definitely recommend visiting at that time of year just to see it.
Perhaps the most gobsmacking fact was not from that night though. As part of the fresher’s week, all 9,000 students from the University take a day trip on the train to a city nearby called Barga. Imagine the chaos of that happening on a Lumo…
On a final note, a friend gave me a great book called Ikigai, on the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. Since I am now well into my 60s, I think its wisdom is very important! It said stay active, as in move every half an hour, even to a little extent. It advised staying connected to friends, avoid social isolation and find your purpose. When I retired, I think I’d lost my purpose but writing has really helped and I’ve made so many new friends through it as well.
We’ll see if I can keep it up. If there are no more newsletters, maybe I didn’t try hard enough!!
Have a lovely November and thanks for reading this. Your interest is very appreciated. x