Endings and beginnings

For the past ten years I've been busy taking minutes and organising events for Solihull Writers' Workshop. Now that responsibility has passed to another, leaving me with time to update this blog and maybe concentrate more time and effort on my own writing.

In an effort to keep track of all my current ideas, here's a list of what I'm working on.

A truck full of crowns - a novel set in the Cotswolds

The House of Oran - a tale of shapeshifting cats ruled by females

Netherbridge - stories of a Midlands village where folk still follow "the old ways", where wise women join the Knitting Circle and cunning men meet every Tuesday above the pub. You can read the first few excerpts here

The Herbwife's Apprentice - a non-fiction herbal text book to accompany my apprenticeship scheme

I still write poetry and my collection, At Home and Away, is my only publication still available. There are also a few songs which appear infrequently at festivals or Cornish concerts. 

We've just returned from Cornwall where we've had a productive ten days with friends, visiting new places and returning to beloved haunts. I wrote and performed a new song based on our day's stone circle hunting in West Penwith last Monday which was well received at the Wednesday concert along with 'The Orchards of Porthcurnik', which I wrote three years ago.

Now I need to knuckle down and pick up the enthusiasm engendured by our writers retreat down in Devon last month when the Badger/Koala Group emerged. We've already booked our next retreat in January at Acton Scott in Shropshire. I hope to have many thousands of words under my belt before then.