Once a writer, always a writer?

I've recently joined a facebook group for students who went to my primary school in the 70s and 80s.

There are some amazing memories being posted - strange how names and events come back to you when you see the photos of old schoolmates. I found a few photos of my own, and although I recognise many faces, I don't often remember the names that should go with them... It's still something I struggle with, if I'm honest. I can remember you and things I know about you, but not your name. (In fact I can forget a name within moments of being told it...)

Anyway, in reminiscing and looking for the photos I found my old junior school reports, which cover Years 3 to 6 in modern schooling. What became apparent in reading them was that, from early on, I was writing stories, reading lots, and generally being creative rather than mathsy or sporty.

It was especially interesting to read about my writing...

Y3: Katherine thoroughly enjoys reading. Her creative writing is imaginative and carefully expressed with colourful descriptions and good vocabulary. She has learned to join her writing, but now tends to be rather untidy occasionally.

Y4: Katherine reads very well and seems to enjoy reading both to herself and aloud. She puts her spelling and vocabulary to good use in her creative writing, which is always lively and interesting, and sustained at length.

Y5: Creative English has been outstanding. She is able to express feelings and details and shows a sympathy for her characters. She writes lengthy stories and her punctuation, grammar and spelling can be so accurate that they hardly need correcting. She has an extensive vocabulary and her work is most enjoyable to read.

Y6: In her creative English work, Katherine is highly imaginative. She produces lively, spontaneous poetry full of descriptive phrases. Her stories are lengthy and follow a well developed plot. The excitement generated by the dialogue and the action shows that Katherine derives much pleasure from writing her stories. Punctuation, sentence structure and use of paragraphs are excellent. Her extensive vocabulary reflects her love of words and the depth of her reading.

Reading them actually made me a bit sad.

While the reports indicate that I've always loved reading and writing, and that I used to write decent stories even as a child, the reports make me realise how much of that joy and ability I lost over the years that came after.

When I think of how many years I've spent, re-learning the art of writing stories after a decade in a microbiology laboratory and another ten as a stay at home mum, there's a little bit of me that can't help wondering whether I should've tried harder to become an author earlier in my life. Especially now that my current ambition is to have published all five of Tilda's stories by the time I'm 60!

Mind, having said that, I'm also a believer that things happen at the right time; I know that if I'd not changed focus to science and worked as a trainer in microbiological awareness, and if I hadn't spent so many years training as a guider, then I wouldn't have developed my presentation, workshop and  and speaking skills which have been so vital to my school visits and talks. If the physical act of writing stories had all come too easily, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to seek out help, and as a result, make such wonderful writing friends. If I'd never offered to help listen to reluctant readers at my children's school, I'd never have even thought about writing stories for other people to read.

Maybe, sometimes, you need to let a talent rest, so that you can rediscover it later? But not just rediscover it - rediscover it and combine it with a few other skills you've learnt, so that it develops into something even bigger and better?

I wonder what 11 yr old me would have said, if you'd told her back then that one day those creative writing stories would mean she'd one day be published and passing on her love of writing to children her own age?

Writing 'energy'

I am an author. I write.

But I'm not very disciplined, so I write when I can in the day, and try to write every day, even if it's not on the current novel.

However, I've noticed that I only seem to have a certain amount of 'writing energy'. By which, I mean the amount of time I can write for without my brain getting fuddled and needing a break on some other creative project.

That's part of the reason I've not been blogging so much recently. It's not that I've not been up to anything - far from it! Writing-wise, I've been putting together the text for a website, dealing with the history of Charnwood International camps (I wrote a couple of blogs about it after Charnwood 2016). I've also been editing Rurik-Reeka-Tilda for the umpteenth time - a task I set myself voluntarily which has now become rather more urgent as I've had some interest from a publisher and need to get it finished. Add to that sorting out NIBS writing exercises, tweaking some short stories for a couple of competitions, oh, and everything else that makes for a busy Squidge household, and the energy to write is spread too thin and becomes rapidly depleted.

I know it's all getting too much when I start to 'flit' from one thing to another, not really making headway on anything. 'Jack of all trades, master of none', isn't that how the saying goes?

What should be my priority? If I don't crack on with the current WIP, I won't have anything else to publish (fingers crossed). If I don't enter comps, I won't stand any chance at all of maybe, possibly, getting placed. And if I don't get the history finished, I'm letting someone down who's relying on me.

So, if I'm a little quieter on here over the next couple of weeks, you'll at least know it's because my writing energy is needed elsewhere, and not that I've given up blogging! Normal service should resume about Mid-March...

And just to prove I do do things other than write, here's a pic of me and Mr Squidge (along with George the dog and his owner!), planting hedgerow in a field. Cos, y'know, sometimes you just have to be doing something different...

Reunited... and a blast from the past

Yesterday, I met up with some friends from my schooldays, who I had not seen since I was eighteen.

That was thirty two years ago. Eeek!

We had a great time catching up with each others' lives and reminiscing about our time at Limehurst High School and Burleigh Community College. And we're going to have to do it all again soon, as one of our little group had to cancel at the last minute because of poorly offspring.

The best thing about meeting up after so long was that I was forced to look through my keepsake boxes for photos and momentos from that time; my mum always carefully clipped articles out of the local rag if we were in them, and saved programmes from school events, reports etc etc.

Here's a newspaper cutting of the Limehurst Award winners of 1981...

I'm the one on the front row with her head helpfully circled (!); Muninder is on the second row, directly over my right shoulder; Helen is on the far right of the second row, and Penny is on the third row back, fourth in from the left.

We sat trying to put names to faces on this picture - I can remember a lot of them, but not all...Reman, Sally, Adrienne, Elizabeth, Pauline, Stephanie, Michelle, Lyn, another Helen, Bridget...

Helen and I were both at primary school together too, as demonstrated in this rather wonderful pic from a school production, where we were beggars. (We worked out it wasn't the one where we sang Beatles' songs, but I cannot for the life of me remember what this one was about!)

Back row (L to R): Tracey, Deborah, Mark, Samantha, Anne

Front row (L to R): Helen, Helen, yours truly and Alex

Then there was this one. 

I can only assume it was a music group or choir-y photo, because some of the folks have recorders. Goodness only knows why I was pulling the face I am... third in from the right on the front row (again). Helen's third in from the left on the same row. This one also has lots of my neighbours and friends too - Marianne, Rebecca, Catharine, Steve, Elizabeth, Mark. Wonder where they all are now?

There's also a rather fetching pic of me in a wimple, singing. I seem to recall I had to sing Greensleeves in the local park. Heaven alone knows why.

Anyway... You know I mentioned Mum kept all our school reports? I found my Holywell junior ones (that's Y3-6 in modern terms) and had a laugh over what the teachers had written - especially about my creative writing. Take a look...

1975:

'Her creative writing is imaginative and carefully expressed with colourful descriptions and good vocabulary.'

'Katherine works hard but fairly slowly.' (in Maths)

'She works hard and responds well in PE and seems to enjoy herself.'

1976:

'Her spelling and vocabulary are extremely good. She puts these to good use in her creative writing, which is always lively and interesting, and sustained at length.' (Teacher speak for 'she doesn't half go on!?)

'Katherine has a very fine singing voice, and a good sense of rhythm, and thoroughly enjoys music.'

1977:

'Creative English has been outstanding...She is able to express feelings and details and shows a sympathy for her characters. She writes lengthy stories...and her work is most enjoyable to read.'

'PE is more difficult for her. She is slight and has no great strength, but she does well in gymnastics. Games lessons she does not enjoy.' (I hated PE with a vengeance!)

'She enjoys making dramatic statements which produce a howl of protest from the class and enjoys tantalising them with some of the roles she assumes!' (I honestly have no idea what on earth I used to do to deserve this!)

1978:

'Katherine has worked carefully and methodically, if a little slowly, at Mathematics...'

'In her creative English work, Katherine is highly imaginative...Her stories are lengthy and follow a well developed plot. The excitement generated by the dialogue and the action shows that Katherine derives much pleasure from writing her stories...Her extensive vocabulary reflects her love of words and the depth of her reading.'

'She sang and danced with energy and flair in the Christmas play.' (Wonder if that was the wizard and beggar one?)

'...always works to the best of her limited ability in PE and games.'


It made me laugh that, all the way through, maths is slow and methodical. Still is, if I'm honest.  Music and drama feature a fair bit - I loved performing. PE certainly went downhill over the four years, though - I remember taking part in the Five Star Awards, scraping a one star award in my third year and being so terrible in the fourth year, I didn't even get that. On Sports Day, I was always the egg-and-spooner or sack race candidate...

But in writing - my word. I would be extremely pleased to get this kind of feedback now! I hadn't realised that I was considered quite so good at writing back then. I remember enjoying it, and using my imagination, but good? It seems a shame that I lost all of that excitement and skill during my further studies and working life and only rediscovered - and to some extent, re-learned - the love of reading and writing when my own children came along.

But thank goodness I did. Belated thanks to Miss Cartlidge, Mrs Johnson, Mrs Bennett and Mrs Creasey for their kind words back then. I wonder if, when they read my 'lengthy stories' all thoses years ago, they had any idea that one day, I'd be a published author?

I'm off to look for some of my Limehurst and Burleigh reports now, see whether the trends in certain subjects continued!

A blast from the past

Years ago, I spent some time designing images for rubber stamps, working with a company called Dimension Fourth Ltd. The company no longer exists, but for some time I enjoyed drawing different images which Roy and Aly Higginbottom turned into acrylic stamps and amazing cards. (I believe Roy and Aly are both still involved in the crafting world, but are no longer together.)

Anyway, as a result, I have three box files full of stamps made from my designs. I've dabbled and made cards using them, but not for ages. And I probably wouldn't have given them a thought, except that during a bit of a clear out yesterday, I found a box of ATCs I'd made using my own designs which sent me on a bit of a stroll down memory lane...

To the uninitiated, ATC's are Artist Trading Cards; card-makers sometimes produce miniature works of art (2.5 x 3.5 inches) based on stamping and swap them with other crafters. Each tiny card could take an hour or more to create. I used to LOVE making them...but could rarely bear to part with them - as proven by the boxful I found under the bed.

I love Christmas, so quite a few have a wintry theme:

Then there were borders and cartoon people and cute animals and fashion ideas...

And these next are my absolute favourite ATCs, especially the white cat and bouquet of flowers. Somehow, the backing paper colours and hand-drawn flowers just work. But then I also loved the patchwork quilt, with the stitching on paper and tiny button...

Having found these, I rooted out the boxes of stamps themselves. They're all acrylic, and the best way to store them is on laminated sheets. I used to stamp the images onto plain paper, have a colouring in session with the Squidgelings and then laminate the sheets so I had a handy reference as to what I'd got where.

Here are just a few of stamp sheets...

My first designs were mainly borders and cartoon people.

And as the cartoon people went down well, the range was extended to include historical and seasonal figures as well as a complete Nativity set!

I love Christmas, so I played with Christmas fairies...

...and words and trees and a LOT of patchwork designs...

...before moving onto penguins and Eskimos. The long-legged Santa and snowman were THE first designs I got paid for, and they were based on a pair of mantelpiece ornaments I'd bought when the Squidgelings were tiny.

More patchwork - I think I patchworked an awful lot, even before I got into the fabric version! There's a complete set of upper and lower case letters, a tortoise and a rabbit! And then we get the cute critters. I started with mice, cos I've always had a thing for mice.

 Then I moved onto cats - for all seasons - and dogs and moles...

I love the poodle on the scooter and the cat peeping out of the daisies.

You know, I hadn't realised just how many I'd drawn over the years until I went through the boxes... Perhaps it's time to get stamping again? Assuming I can find the time between writing projects, church and home, of course. Maybe I'll hand make my Christmas cards this year?

I'll let you know if I find 25 hours in the day between now and then!

Rewriting Dickens

Last night, I got round to watching the last two episodes of Dickensian, the new BBC drama which began before Christmas.

I've loved it! I don't watch any soaps as a rule, but this series was a bit like watching a Victorian version of Eastenders - in fact, the writer Tony Jordan, IS an Eastenders writer. I know which version of his writing I prefer...

I'll admit to not having read much Dickens... I cried over Tale of Two Cities, wrote essays on Great Expectations for CSE English Lit, and that's probably about it. But I know Oliver Twist (the musical version!) and A Christmas Carol (who doesn't?), so I'm familiar with quite a few of the characters that appeared in the show.

Last night, as I said, I watched the last episode. I'm not going to put too much detail here, as I don't want to give you any spoilers, but suffice to say, we found out why Miss Havisham never got married.

For me as a writer, it was a fabulous lesson in how to turn an unsympathetic character into someone I actually felt sorry for in spite of all he'd done. (Merriweather Compeyson) and how to turn a character you felt really sorry for into a bit of a monster (Arthur Havisham). But you'll have to watch the episode to see what I'm talking about...

I've loved the mash-up of all the characters, the authenticity of Victorian life, and the relationships portrayed which Dickens never, ever put together originally. I know screen writing is very different to novel writing, but it shows what can happen if you are prepared to play around with something familiar and take a new direction with it. I suppose it's like fan-fic in a way, but for me personally there has to be enough of a sense of the original author within what you try to create anew; in the murky world of Dickensian, there is a definite flavour of the outraged Dickens yet there is enough of a modern approach in the writing for you to fully expect the 'bum-bum-babadum' moment that always closes an episode of Eastenders. You certainly get that moment - you just don't get the drums...

Can't wait for the next series...

Hoovering Angels' Wings

Yes, you did read that right. Hoovering - not hovering - angels' wings. That's what I've been doing today.

Let me explain...

A couple of years ago, the church I worship at went through a time of reordering. We took out the old organ and choir stalls to give us a much more flexible front worship space, as well as giving the entire church building some much needed TLC after over 125 years of hosting a community.

Before the reordering, we had various hangings in church; these were taken down and stored until such time as the stonework dried out (it was all power-washed to show off the beautiful colours of Swithland stone) and they could be effectively cleaned. One of the hangings was always referred to as The Three Angels.

Three Angels

Now, there is some dispute about exactly who is on the banner. The central figure is holding a lily, so it has been assumed by some to be a representation of Mary, after whom the church is named. (Although again, we're not sure which Mary the church is named after...mother of Jesus? Magdelene? Mary of Mary and Martha fame?)

Anyway, I've always taken it to be a tapestry of three angels, because there are four wings; one for each of the figures standing side-on, next to the central figure who has two wings.

As a child, the tapestry captivated me. I wasn't interested in the remarkable needlework of Stella Edwards, the lady who made it in the 1960's. And it is remarkable needlework. The base fabric, a sort of black/green satin depending on the light, with gold and silver lurex threads running through it, measures roughly 5' x 6' (1.52m by 1.90m ...ish. I work better in imperial than metric!) and the stitching covers a vast amount of that area. The base of the lily is felt, but everything else is embroidered with tapestry wool in shades of green, gold, orange-brown and off-white. The stitches are so even - just take a look at these close-ups...

The little 'flowers' are the patterns made by the
lurex threads in the base fabric

I always loved the angel in the middle, because I thought she was beautiful. Still do. The angel on the right came a close second, especially as she had a lovely face (shame about the green hair) and a patterned dress. The poor angel on the left - the one with the wonky face and dodgy hairdo, who always seemed to be admiring the other two - always got my sympathy vote. I can remember thinking, as a short, black-haired, bespectacled 8 year old, that she'd ended up with a bum deal in the looks department. But I was slightly happier that she'd been given a decent dress to make up for it...

See what I mean? 

I love this banner so much, I took it as my inspiration for a flower arrangement back at our 'Fabric and Flowers' Flower Festival in 2008...

Three lime-green 'angels', 'holding' a central lily,
with glass and gold nuggets on a black background

Personally, I have missed having the angels hanging in church - though you do get used to the fact they're not there, if that makes sense? They've been a part of St. Mary's almost as long as I have.

Anyway, today I hoovered them. Sixty-odd years of accumulated dust and a few cobwebs sucked up by the vacuum... Unfortunately there are a couple of problems; I noticed some small holes in the base fabric and a handful of stitches which have perished, but the banner is in remarkably good condition otherwise.

I reckon it's good to hang for another sixty years at least...

A suitcase of memories

My in-laws have just downsized, and as a result, hubbie has been making regular trips to Yorkshire. Each time, he returns with 'stuff' - hoarded over the years because of a war-time mentality of 'it might come in handy' and 'waste not, want not'. Which is fine, and as a result of which we're now the proud owners of an Edwardian typewriter, a canteen of cutlery for 12 people (including two sets of carving knives and forks, soup ladles, and the letter from Pappa's work colleagues who gave it him on the occasion of his marriage), a hammock, a proper oil lantern - and now, a suitcase full of memories.

Nanna's husband was an avid photographer - you might remember a post I wrote some time ago? About the glass slide photographs from the 1920's and earlier? Well, unbeknown to us, Nanna had a collection of her own...

Her father died when she was very young, and we don't know much about him except that he worked on the White Star Line in Liverpool. No, he wasn't on the Titanic! I'd done a bit of rooting around for the family tree and found the Billsdon family, but there weren't many photos in the glass slides we'd already seen because, naturally, they were mainly of Pappa's family - the Hetzels.

Yesterday, we met the Billsdons. They'd been squirreled away in a suitcase - and Nanna had labelled pretty much everything.

There's a box of letters, written between the 40's and 50's, from Billie to Babs. (Babs was Nanna - I'm not sure yet whether Billie was Grandma Billsdon or Florrie, Nanna's mum. Guess I'll have to read them all to find out.)

There are packets of photographs, including a fabulous family portrait, taken around 1900, in which Grandma Billsdon is apparently knitting socks. "I'll just finish this row while you're setting up the camera..."

There is a Japanese photograph album, inlaid with mother of pearl and (we think) ivory, its pages covered in painted silk, which is full of Edwardian and Victorian photographs of both the Billsdons and Webbs (her mum's family). It also includes several photos of Thomas Grenville Billsdon, (known as Gren): Nanna's dad.

There are paintings and a sketchbook. I thought, at first glance, they were dated 1982. Closer inspection showed it was 1892 - could it be a lady's sketchbook, then? Every accomplished young lady needed to be an artist back then... Well, that's what I thought - until I found the portrait titled 'My dear wife', and the certificate awarding the status of 'Art Teacher' to one John H Billsdon.

It's like a time-capsule. Of course, there's more recent stuff too - newspaper clippings, holiday snaps albums, wedding pics, christenings of great-grandchildren. But it's the Victoriana and Edwardian stuff I'm fascinated by.

I reckon the family tree needs revisiting - and this time round, there's a branch where I'm going to be able to put faces to names and see everyone just a little more clearly.