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

I know a lot of people invest heavily in handbags - I'm not one of those people, I tend to change my bag a lot, and well I don't want to pay thousands of pounds for something I take to my day job where it may well get damaged.  But I do like to have nice bags! I 've discussed in an earlier post what my style is so when it comes to bags it should be no surprise that my current bag is quite a classic shape.  Granted it has the pompom flash of fun but other wise it's a classic black tote. So, what's actually hiding in there; 1. My purse My current purse is from Fiorelli and is black and cream.  I like this one as it has a lot of spaces for my cards and a clear pocket where i keep a photo of my parents which I like to have with me all the time - since I lost my dad this is a precious keep sake. 2. My Phone Like most people my phone is never far away from me.  I'm currently using an I Phone, which I love as it connects me to my network of laptop, PC a

Everybody loves a good sale, there's some kind of chemical reaction that gives you pleasure when you find a bargain.    Sales are starting earlier nowadays, you no longer have to wait with bated breath for 26 December to dawn and go rushing out at silly o'clock in the morning to be first in line to grab your deals.  Believe me having worked a couple of Boxing Day sales and having seen people queue from 2am on Boxing Day until stores would open at 5am, I am never surprised by peoples interest in grabbing a bargain. However, this year I would say I have been a selective sale shopper.  I haven't purchased any clothes mainly because I did buy a few bits in pre Christmas sales and so didn't need anything.  I also made a promise to myself to be more careful with my pennies in 2017.   That being said I have purchased a couple of items;  Jewellery  My style when it comes to Jewellery is more classic and sparkly.  I can be a bit of a jewellery magpie I'm attr

So, there are times in  life when things happen that disappoint you for whatever reason.  As human beings and individuals we all have ways of reacting to those things.  This week for me has been one of those weeks where I've had to deal with a Work Life disappointment. I'm a novelist, first and foremost, but to pay the bills I also have a full time job in a 'professional' environment.  It's in this job that I've found myself disappointed this week.  It's been building for a while, with the current economic climate all business are looking at how to save money and stay profitable.  The industry I work in is no different and they have been making plans, changing things and consulting with personnel on how/why they should do things. This week they made their announcement of change and parts of how this was managed was disappointing to me.  The detail isn't important for this post, the point is how I deal with that issue. 1. Be Professional You have

I love makeup.  I have worn it everyday since I was about 8 or 9 years old.  I've tried hundreds of ways of applying my make up, experimented with colours and changed my look from heavy to light to somewhere in between over the years. The one thing that's always remained a constant though is on a regular basis cleaning my tools.  My grandfather always said you can tell a good workman by the way they treat their tools.  I'm careful with my make up brushes and renew them every few years as they start to loose hair and shape. Currently I have two sets which I use combined, this also allows me to have one set cleaned and using a second set while they dry.  I have sensitive skin and I can always tell if I've left it too long between cleansing sessions.  Usually I try to wash my brushes once a week, usually they are okay for two weeks, longer than that I start to notice my make up isn't as smooth as I like and my skin may start showing signs of breakouts. To clean m

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

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

Life is hectic, stressful and chaotic, it can play havoc with your skin, your health and your general wellbeing.  Sometimes you just have to say stop and take a little time for yourself to give your body a treat and recharge your batteries for the days/weeks ahead. After going through periods of stress and anxiety I found that taking some time to have a mini pamper session could lift my mood, help my skin and lower my stress levels.  I try at least once a week to give myself a mini pamper session to relax and refocus my mind. This is currently my pamper routine; As we move in to Spring I'm exfoliating my skin with Calcot Manor Body salts, this is refreshing my skin and leaving it feeling smooth after months of being hidden under long sleeves and jumpers. I apply to damp skin using a circular motion starting at the feet and working my way up. CALCOT MANOR SCRUB I then shower off the salts which do leave a bit of oil on the skin, I tend to follow up with Treacle Moon