Five years ago, I wrote a blog about stumbling upon Farringford, the home famous Victorian writer Lord Alfred Tennyson. Back then the house was a hotel with extra self-catering properties. Since then the house and grounds have been restored back to what it was when Tennyson and his family lived there. Unfortunately due to Covid... Continue Reading →
Come the summer, our thoughts naturally turn to holidays, or vacations, or whatever word you have for a longish period of time off. Many things get put on the back burner to accommodate this and that can include writing. But that doesn't mean you stop wanting to write. After all for many of us, a... Continue Reading →
It's been a quite while since I posted anything specifically about my Work in Progress, "The Cauldron Trilogy". I'm happy to say I've finished the first draft or the first book, and something I've called the "pre-edit". I'm now working on the first proper edit and taking a more meticulous approach than I've done for... Continue Reading →
It would be nice if your writing muse appeared whenever they were needed. But unfortunately the inspiration to write rarely crops up at the perfect time. The truth is you usually have to go find your writing inspiration. Even that initial spark of a book didn't actually come from nowhere. The idea was probably wandering... Continue Reading →
When you're a writer, you may well occasionally feel guilty. In our driven society, it's not unusual to feel like this if you're doing anything that isn't "work" but is vaguely important to you. So how do you cope with it? Here are five common writing "guilts" and how to manage them. 1) Spending too... Continue Reading →
It's always worth doing a bit of research before you travel, whether it be to somewhere you've been before or somewhere new. Before a recent walk, I did a bit of a search of the local area and discovered an authors grave I hadn't visited before. So I took a quick detour to St Mary's... Continue Reading →
Places to go (now we can go places) I’m digging out and sprucing up blog posts to bring fantastically inspiring places to all you writers out there. Stay safe. There are some places you never think you'll see the inside of and a modern-day prison is certainly one of them. Dana Prison in Shrewsbury closed... Continue Reading →
If you're a writer, you're going to spend a good bit of time on your own. It's a cliche to say writers are introverts - but it's true to say you've got to be comfortable in your own company. Society isn't exactly understanding of this though. So if you want to be a writer you'll... Continue Reading →
C.S. Lewis is best known for his Chronicles of Narnia, with "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", being a perennial childhood favourite. He's buried in a small church graveyard, tucked away in what was probably once a village but has now been swallowed up into the Oxford suburbs. A handy sign points you to... Continue Reading →
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