My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

Everyone has a story, some sound like a best selling novel, others seem a little more middle of the road.  But the art of the story is what you learn from it, the moral that stays with you, the changes it makes to you as a person.   Everyone lives a story, life is the biggest and best book you'll ever write, so you have to write the best one you are able.   Learn from your past but don't be bogged down by it, use it  to make your future the best and biggest it can be.  You can also learn from the stories around you, from the people you love, the chapters of the lives of the people who build your family.   There are a lot of stories in the chapters lived before I was born  There are so many I'll never know, so many I know pieces of and some like a good mystery I'll never really know the end to, but each one teaches me something about who I am and who I want to be.   This weekend it seems very apt to tell the story of something that happened on

The evolution of my hair, well there's a story; When I was born, my mam always reminds me, I went missing in the hospital for a while because the nurses were amazed at my thick jet black hair and decided to show me off as my mam slept.  I'm sure if that happened now there's be some major case review and heads would roll!  Anyway, the point is I was born with a lot of rich dark hair and while the thickness has never changed, the colour well..... Before The Cut  As I grew my hair grew long and dark changing from jet black to a deep brown/black with a hint of red. I think at one point it was waist length that was until I found a pair of scissors and thought I'd make a great hairdresser - the results horrified my mam and I ended up with my first ever bob. This should have been a life lesson and I should never have let another pair of scissors near my hair again, only well as I came in to my teens I decided to cut my hair off and have a pixie style only

I was reading a friends blog the other day and she was doing a 25 Facts About Me Tag, so I thought I'd give it a go for today's post, so hold on tight here's a whistle stop tour of me; 1. I'm English, born and raised in Sunderland Northeast England, this is on the north sea coast and it can be rather cold! 2. Being from Sunderland I'm classed as a Mackem, but I don't have a strong accent 3. I lived in Bellingham WA when I was at Uni as an exchange student and came home with a strong American accent - go figure! Visit to Seattle in 1998 4. I hated school, I was bullied from the age of 5 till I was 16, the worst years being between 8 and 12 so School was the worst time of my life.  It's something I still struggle with to this day. At a time when you should be learning to be confident, build relationships and all the social skills you need for life, I was taught the opposite.  I still struggle with confidence in myself and my appearance and I

I love tea, I'm English, I swear it's something written in to our genes.  I have always loved tea - I don't remember the first time I ever had a cup of tea I just know its something I've drank all my life. I come from a family of tea drinkers and everyone of us takes it slightly differently, even my tea tastes have changed over the years. When I was young I took my tea with whole milk and one sugar.  I don't know why I just always did. I drank tea four times a day, one with Breakfast, one with lunch, one after dinner and then one at supper. Tea was a big part of family life, I remember in the summer sitting in my Grandparents garden with a china plate with a special spot for your tea cup to sit eating cucumber sandwiches made with cucumbers my grandad had grown. I drank tea when I was cold because it was comforting and warming and I drank tea when I was hot because it cooled you down. You drank tea when you were happy and you were comforted by it w

I love movies, I mean I really love movies from the script to screen I love everything about the process and the final outcome.  I studied media at university and concentrated on the history of film and theatre. I've always loved movies ever since I can remember, I would spend my weekends watching old hollywood movies staring Bing Crosby, Danny Kayne, Frank Sinatra and Doris Day with my Grandparents.  I would watch 80's blockbusters with my family, horror films with my mam, and  teen slasher flicks with my brother.   I always had my favourites films I would watch over and over again and I think it's partly my love of films which influence the way I write. When I write I see movies in my mind, I have the actors picked out the locations, the camera shots the whole deal and I think it's because I grew up watching some of the most amazing movies of our time. I took a little walk down memory lane this week, I was in the mood for something good, something that would rem

I'm usually very wary about trying new products on my skin, for a long time I've stuck to trusted brands but sometimes even after years of using a product a reaction can develop.  So I decided to start trying new products selectively and hopefully find some new items that will work for me. I've followed Fleur's blog/Vlog for a little over eighteen months now, I find her videos interesting, friendly and informative.  It's like having a conversation with a friend over coffee.  So when she launched her make up line last year I was interested to see how it would work out. Fleur De Force Make Up Line  I didn't purchase her products initially as I wasn't sure they were for my age range.  But after watching her videos where she demonstrates the eye shadows and lip balms and seeing some of the reviews come in I started to think that maybe this would be something I could try. I've been giving my skin time to settle down after having a reaction last ye

Ideas are illusive things, they can strike at any time, like a seed in your thoughts they start to grow and develop in to something that you just need to write down somewhere to nurture, consider and assess. So, when the spark hits how do you capture it before it fades just like a dream when you first wake up? If I was asked how I define me as a person, well, I'm a writer, a fictionalist, a scribbler, a dreamer, a story teller and a creative.   Whether I'm sitting at home watching TV, in a meeting in the day job, working out in the gym, walking the dog or even sleeping, my mind and my imagination never stop telling stories. This is not a new development in my life, its always been this way ever since I can remember.  My friends as a child were the books I read or the characters I created in my head.  I didn't really have 'real' friends I was the 'odd' kid, but instead of letting that be a bad thing I've tried to accept it as just part of who I am a

I've seen a lot of 'What's in my handbag' vlogs on YouTube, now while I'm good with words I'm not so good on camera - I guess it's one of those areas I need to build confidence in, anyway, back to the point, I thought I'd do a written a version for my spring handbag. So, I have just got a new bag, my last one was taking a bit of a battering, so it was time for a change.  Coming in to spring you'd think I'd go for something light, bright etc. but well I'm practical a lot of the time.  I didn't want to spend a great deal on a new bag, I wanted to keep the price below £20, so I decided to look at some of the sales which are still ongoing. Now, just because I was looking in the sales doesn't mean there wasn't an array of choice and colours, but as I said practicality comes in to it.  I'm not just a blogger and I'm not just a novelist, I also have a Monday to Friday job as a PA.  So, my bag needs to be many things, Dura

So I made a promise this year that I would be a better reader, I set myself a reading goal as part of the Goodreads challenge of 25 books - now that may not seem a lot, but I wanted to give myself a fighting chance as I have to divide my time between work, family, writing and reading.  So since 1 Jan I have read 8 books - Happily this week I've finished my 9th!   The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks purchased from AMAZON.co.uk I’ve read a couple of Nicholas Sparks books previously and always enjoyed them.   I will admit this one I hadn’t paid attention to and only picked it up after having seen the movie.   What attracted me to this story was the inclusion of a romance affected by World War 2.    If anyone reads my other blog MY LIFE AS A WRITER , and if you don’t please take a look, it’ll explain my interest in relationships affected by war. I started reading The Longest Ride a few weeks ago and it took me longer than I thought to finish it.   Not because it’s b