I’ve been a member of Pens Around the World since the very beginning over five years ago. We are a peer group of creative writers working in English who live (or have lived) in far-flung places. I qualify for membership having travelled overland and lived in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Spain and more recently Uganda. You can read about some of my experiences here. We help each other with critiques and encouragement, writing exercises and suggestions for publishing opportunities. Each week one of our members posts a blog and we’re thrilled that a selection of these pieces now feature in our anthology. It includes stories of travel, memory, creativity, friendship and self-discovery and reflects on the experiences that connect us, wherever we call home.
Please join us for the launch of the anthology on Sunday 4 October at 1pm BST/2pm CEST. We’re delighted that some of our guest contributors including Marsali Taylor, author of the Shetland sailing mysteries; Jimena Ferraris and RaissaClaire R. Falgui will also be present. All you have to do is click the link below on the day:
It’s that time of year again, when The Scripts the Thing put out a call for submissions as part of the annual festival held in Dorchester. It’s a celebration of all types of scripts for performance and gives the opportunity to test the water with new work. In previous years Maria Pruden, Sarah Scally and I (collectively known as 3-She) have written and acted in our short plays. This year we’re working on a piece based on confusion that is caused when technical language is used. I don’t want to give too much away as the script is still in development. We need to get the whole draft polished by the deadline on 6 July.
My calendar is populated with trips this year. I’ve just come back from Portugal where David and I completed the second half of the Fishermen’s Trail in a week. It was an arduous walk – more like a hike – as we followed the single track alongside the coast on top of honey-coloured cliffs. Many of the coves and beaches can only be reached by foot or by sea, so that made it very special. The challenges included lugging a backpack, steep inclines, walking on sand and 42mph winds. Towards the end of the trail around Lagos, the cliffs become more weathered to produce spikes in the sea, arches and sink holes. The Algarve is amazingly beautiful.
I received an email from SME News in June this year saying The Writer is a Lonely Hunter had been nominated in the Southern Enterprise Awards 2025 . The nomination was based on my ‘impactful storytelling and dedication to community engagement through writing’. I looked into the organisation and decided to proceed. A couple of months later, I was told that following merit-led research and evaluation my blog had been recognised as the deserving recipient of the Best Literary Writing Blog Award 2025.
My sixteen-month-old grandson has impetigo (an infectious bacterial skin infection) which he caught at nursery but he isn’t allowed to return there until 7–10 days after starting a course of antibiotics. As a result, we’ve covered some of the emergency childcare needs. It’s great to be helpful and looking after our grandson is always a lot of fun. He’s started talking much more and points his index finger when out in his buggy and calls out words like car, truck, bus and dog. We’ve spent a lot of time building towers with plastic cups (which are immediately knocked down) and stirring pretend porridge which is always too hot or too cold.
I was delighted to receive a review copy of The Blue of You, the latest work by talented author Amanda Huggins, published by Northodox Press. The novella is a joy to read, and I thoroughly recommend it to you. Here’s my five-star review:
The setting of a village on the NE coast of England in The Blue of You is integral to the story where some members of the close-knit community hold secrets and others break them. The novella works as a mystery where I found myself wondering which characters were trustworthy. Layers of narrative reveal Janey Shaw’s personal history as she becomes empowered to address issues of unresolved grief. The writing is immersive and rich with symbolism. This is another triumph for the author who has a strong track record of producing high quality writing.
AI systems are trained on existing written material and therefore authors are anxious about having the copyright of their work infringed. It’s large corporations that gain most from the introduction of AI and the big profits that can result. Professional writers whose median income fell to £7000 in 2022 are right to be concerned. There are also reports of AI generated stories flooding open submission windows causing more headaches. You can read about the Society of Authors response to AI here. Keeping all this in mind, are there any positives?
Oh yes, any trip to IKEA should be rewarded with a bite of lunch. Fortunately, the Croydon store wasn’t too busy when I visited last week and I came away with all the purchases on my list… and not much more. (The marketplace is fatal for picking up just another bargain.) I was interested to note there’s a scene set in IKEA in You by Caroline Kepnes, where the protagonist helps his muse to buy a bed. I am late to this novel (it’s now available on Netflix) but I did find it a compelling story and it made me realise how few books I’ve read recently where the main viewpoint character is male.
On this occasion it’s David and our friend Martin at the helm of a GoBoat. This electric-powered boat took us on a jaunt along the River Thames from Kingston and the table provided an excellent way to share a picnic. I’ve been madly searching Google to find the name of the romantic novel which I think was set in Copenhagen and features GoBoats. Instead, I’ve come up with an AI overview of how I can write a novel based on my search:
The protagonist, a travel writer, is tasked with documenting the “hidden gems” of Copenhagen. She meets a local guide while exploring the city’s canals, and they decide to take a GoBoat tour…
Although I find plot the hardest thing to nail as a writer, but I won’t be resorting to AI any time soon.
As a former teacher, I’ve discovered I’m entitled to join Boundless an experiences club that helps those who work or have worked in the public sector to make the most of their free time. It does this by offering savings on events and a variety of free benefits. The club was established in 1923 by Frank Edwards who set about bringing people together to share adventures. Nowadays, the £40 membership offers free entry into Kew Gardens and (for an additional fee) several royal palaces including the Tower of London and Hampton Court. To make the most of our membership, David and I visited Kew Gardens last week which is a train ride away from our flat in South West London. We explored a section of the grounds and enjoyed the temperate house. We also took a stroll along the treetop walkway which offered fantastic views over the London skyline.
I am a member of the Women’s Institute (WI) and was delighted to join the Kingston branch to talk about my journey to becoming a published author. Here I am with the audience waiting for my session to be introduced.
Although I planned the talk carefully and rehearsed it twice, I was still nervous. Thankfully, the audience were very kind and receptive… and it turned out to be a lot of fun. There were many questions at the end of my thirty-five minutes of delivery and I was pleased to share my inspiration and approaches to writing with such an interested and responsive group.
The KWI book group will be discussing The Secret Life of Carolyn Russellin August and asked me to devise a few questions. I thought followers of this blog might also be interested so I’ve pasted them below:
