Beautiful!

That is the natural order of things. :)

It was awfully kind! I can't wait to add some words to it 🙂

One of my lovely writing students recently went on a bookbinding course and on her return, presented me with this gorgeous hand made notebook! I was thrilled and touched and I am going to use it for the topic we did today, mindful and uplifting writing for the soul. #joysofwriting #handcrafted

I feel quite sad. My old passport has run out and my smart burgundy EU passport will no longer travel with me. My ancestry is European as much as native Briton. I feel in my heart that I am European.

One of the best pieces of graffiti art I have ever seen. And very apt for many of my days...

I'm pleased with the updated cover for the revised paperback edition of my history of #adoption book. The blurb is much better and excellent bait for bookshop browsers!
#historywriters #historyofadoption #historyofchildhood #socialhistory

The adoption research guide, and currently some introductory essays for a collected works of Mervyn Peake. Revisiting my poems. Oh and wishing I hadn't come up with a title for novel two in a series set in the later 15th cent, when I have barely begun book one. So, no pressure at all. Nope! 😱

Thank you!

Thought provoking. One of the topics I discuss with my experienced writing students is the inequities and weirdness of the mad world of publishing.

Tidying, cleaning, sorting, let dog out, let dog in (multiple times), try not to nod off in front of telly (any football on??) and if I am lucky, get some writing of my own done later!

I'll certainly tell my lot, looks like a gentle way for a relative beginner to cut their teeth on submitting stuff. Not that such short fiction is easy, of course!

Looks excellent! Sadly I am teaching then but I will certainly look into it further.

Helga the Malinois and her buddy Ollie napping after tea. Ollie is 17 years old and blind, an ex street dog from Serbia. And the boss dog!
#adoptdontshop #rescuedogs #noshesnotagermanshepherd #dogsonbluesky #serbianrescuedog

And very nice socks they are too!

It's sleepytime for our foster dog, Nesta. I think she's pretty relaxed!
#fosteradog #blinddogrescue #adoptdontshop #mastifespagnol #biggoofypooch

Awful and also worrying.

This actually came out of an eye condition I developed last year. I needed to cut my screen time so I went hard copy on some tasks instead! I've so enjoyed a blended use of screen and paper, but for the big projects it's got to be laptop although I can't do it for hours on end like I used to.

The Mighty, the All Knowing, Do-anything-for-mature-cheddar Helga. Dumped in a trash bin aged 5 weeks in Southern Spain, rescued and fostered until she came to us at nine months old. As I keep telling her, she's the best!
#themightyhelga #belgianmalinois #dogsonbluesky #noshesnotagermanshepherd

My latest new to me book buy. I love the early fictional ghosts, vampires and ghoulies so I can't wait to dip in! (With the light on of course...)
#ghoststories #gothictales #spooky #amwriting #halloween

If you're a jobbing writer like me, you'll likely have a day job or two. I work reception at a small college in Cheshire. Today we have a willow weaving day course run by Juliette Hamilton. They are making stags! Juliette's sample is ace but I quite like the crazy headless unfinished versions too.

First post! It's a pic of my history of adoption book, currently under revision with Pen and Sword for the new paperback edition out soon. Loved revisiting it with such a deep dive. And sticky tabs are the best!
#adoptionhistory #amwritinghistory #timetravel #amwriting #historynerd

Still groping in the dark on here! But happy to find a chum so early on. PS I owe you an email! And will grovellingly explain my tardiness in that 🫣