White Bread and Pasta.

This topic has nothing to do with writing, but it is on mind, or more specifically, my stomach. I have developed a belly, similar to Samantha's pouch in the latter half of the Sex and the City movie. Why, might you ask? White bread and pasta.
I used to think it ridiculous when women, on diets, gave up bread and pasta. I thought it was unhealthy and they would end up snatching a bar of chocolate to make up for it. Well, over the last few weeks I have gorged myself on white bread (homemade by moi) and yummy white pasta - I'd given both up for nearly eight months (for medical reasons) - and for the first time in my life had a near-to-flat stomach.
But two months ago my medical problems were solved and I reverted to my old white bread and pasta eating ways, and my little pouch is back, just in time for bikini season. This is not good news, but I shall not give up bread and pasta altogether. Oh no, I shall revert to wholegrain pasta (it's got extra bite anyway) and whole grain spellt bread. Neither bloat me, and they do not convert into sugar the moment they enter the digestive system.
So, to those women (and men) who give up white bread and pasta, I now understand you, but don't give up ALL bread and pasta. How can you live?

Reviews

I wrote a review on the opening chapters of a novel for the Youwriteon site this morning. Reviewing is so different to reading for pleasure. I had to re-read the first few paragraphs several times, to make sense of them, but then, thankfully, the writing began to take off. I feel very 'teacherish' when writing reviews and tend to see a lot of room for improvement, even in very good pieces. I'm hoping that being such a harsh critic, means good news for my own writing.

The standard on the Youwriteon site is very high, and gives insight into the competition writers are up against when submitting to agents and publishers. It also makes it all the more surprising, how some less-than-good novels are published. I was reading one such novel yesterday and wanted only to get out my red pen and edit out the four or five cliches per page and the unnecessary long-winded dialogue. It surely is a mystery why an editor decided to publish it, and it makes it all the more clear to me that the only solution to getting published is to KEEP WRITING until something you write 'happens' to please an editor, on a particular Tuesday, when he/she has had a good breakfast and slept well the night before.

There is also, I believe, a problem for writers who don't write 'commercial' fiction and yet don't fall into the literary genre either. Editors worry, perhaps, that not enough people will want to read these books, and maybe they're right - these novels are unlikely to win any literary awards, and so get noticed, and equally they don't appeal to tired holiday makers who want only to flake out on a beach and leave their brains at home. But, in their, defense, these mid genre novels are my favourite. I love an easy read, with teeth - something that makes me think, without endless description. Unfortunately, those type of books are not always so easy to find....that's why I write them myself!

Listowel Writers' Week

The first time I went to Listowel Writers' Week I felt like a seal who, after a year in the desert, had suddenly found the ocean. I flipped and twirled, giddy with excitement, going into pubs and restaurants alone, as EVERYWHERE I went there was someone to chat to about writing. I had my first dinner with a poet and his father, the second I had with a famous Russian poet (who I had never heard of, and whose name, I'm sorry, I still can't remember). I didn't worry about whether I was flirting with a man or if he were with me. We were talking, as equals, about a shared passion and that's all there was to it.
My teacher, that year, was Martin Malone. He told me I had talent and if I persevered I would get published. Up until then I had written on my own, not believing myself to be a 'real' writer, but knowing that I had to do it anyway. His words kept me going.
Today is the opening of Writers' Week and I would normally be driving down to Listowel, my car filled with notebooks, warm jackets and perhaps a boogie board to hit the local waves. But not this year. Tomorrow I am teaching my own Creative Writing classes in Dublin, however, before long, I plan to attend Writers' Week again, and next time, if they'll have me, I want to be one of the tutors!

Benefits of Writing

The literary agent Nathan Bransford, who is based in the San Francisco office of Curtis Brown, writes an interesting blog. A couple of weeks ago he asked what writers have given up to write. Over 250 of his readers replied. Most said health insurance, sleep, housework and T.V. Others gave up husbands, pensions, promotions and full time jobs.
I thought I might ask a different question here: what have I, as a writer, received?
Huge support from my husband, family and friends: I don't think I would ever have known how loved I am if I had not taken this journey. I have been given holidays away, meals out, odd jobs, and sometimes much-needed cash.
A close relationship with my lovely Mum who is a wonderful editor and provides me with an endless stream of books on writing.
Writing has taught me a lot about myself and the world. I've found out what I might do in certain situations, and learned to understand different religions and cultures.
It gives me somewhere completely 'safe' to go when I'm upset or feeling lost.
It's makes me understand why I love to be alone and to think.
It has opened doors into the houses and hearts of people, generous enough to help me with my research.
It allows me to reach my full potential as a human being.
Funnily enough, none of the above has anything to do with publication!

What has writing given you?

Monday Mornings

I believe I may be one of a rare group of people who enjoy Monday mornings. On a Monday morning I have my adult creative Writing class. Students age from early twenties (depending who is there) to early seventies. My oldest has been attending class since November 2007, and during that time she has had two stories published and learnt how to use a computer. She inspires me (when I'm feeling low) by reflecting back what I have taught on better days, and sharing her experiences and wisdom.

I have heard writing teachers say they are amazed by the stories their students come up with - I am too. I have had ten year olds boys with plots for high-action movies, Hollywood producers would buy up in an instant. I tell the boys to keep their ideas safe and not tell a soul, then I tell myself that I MUST NOT STEAL THEM! Adults, too, write captivating, breath taking pieces in just twenty minutes. I know its only a beginning and they're still lots of work to do, but I also know these students could write just as well as me, and better, if they chose to. But so many file their stories away, or even lose them, not believing that they're worth the extra work - like a pile of wasted embyros.

It's a pity that so often we can see the worth in other people's work but find it, oh so, difficult to see it in our own, especially when writing is something that comes easily to us.

On that profound note I shall skip off to writing class to be inspired, and hopefully inspire.

Moi is Top Ten

I am most pleased today as the opening chapters of my novel Soul to Soul entered the Top Ten Charts on the Youwriteon.com site funded by the Arts Council in the UK. On the site writers review each other's work and rate it according to ten different categories e.g. plot, language and character. I have scored highest for language which thrills me as I have often perceived that as my weakness - I'm usually so eager to get my story down that I grab for the nearest word that enables me to thunder on.
Recently, however, I read Colím Tobín's Brooklyn and, as his novels are always being shortlisted for something, I was expecting long words and convuluted sentences, but that's not what I got. It reads easily and simply, and has been hailed in The Irish Times, as his greatest work. This makes me wonder if the trend in literary fiction is moving away from long words and sentences, and towards simpicity and clarity. If so there is hope for us all - readers and writers!

Well, I shall go back to my children's novel, which I dumped the moment I found out about my Top Ten Chart position. That's the danger of checking emails in the middle of writing. I really shouldn't do it...

Je suis une Blogger!

Day two of my blog and I'm already loving it. I have a feeling that my poor children's novel may be taking a back seat to this more immediate gratification - the bliss of a captive audience, well, in my imagination anyway.

Bookings are rolling in for my summer camps which is encouraging news. I'm trying out two new venues this year: Rathdown School in Glenageary and The Grain Store in Cabinteely Park. Both are set in grounds with large trees - I think beauty is very important for writing, although I have written in ugly places too. The worst was probably the lift in my appartment. It broke down at 4 a.m. one January when I was on the way to the airport for a sun holiday in the Canaries - boy was I glad that I had my laptop in my suitcase. I was in there for nearly two hours, wrapped in a beach towel, (over my other clothes) typing away. Once I entered into that other universe I calmed down and completely forgot where I was. A very handy skill, I'm sure you'll agree.

Talking of writing, I haven't written a thing today. I've spent all my time checking for emails of congratulations for my beautiful website (I've had a few!) and emailing anyone I can think of who may want to take a look at it, and send me a congratulatory email or comment. This behaviour helps me understand the fascination with Facebook (which I have avoided) - it is lovely to believe people are interested in my life (even if they're not). It makes me feel important! And we all like that.

Website Launch

Today is the day I launch my website. It has been designed by my husband Oisín, who is a webmaster genius and my devoted helper. Much of what I do would be impossible without him. He gave me my first laptop, and also my second (when I needed a fancier one to go on-line) So this first blog is dedicated to him.

It is a strange and new experience to be blogging - I have a strong compulsion to write whatever the heck comes into my head, just as I do in my journal every morning, but then I remember that someone in Australia could read this, or much, much worse, someone who lives just down the street. So I won't go on about how late I got up this morning, or how I haven't brushed my teeth or done anything similarly constructive yet today (even though it is well after ten). No, I shall tell you instead, how I am steaming ahead, organising Creative Writing Summer camps, that are expanding into South County Dublin and how my first children's novel is going marvellously well.

That's the thing about writing in facebook and blogs. You don't tell it how it really is. It's like being at a cocktail party,(during the first drink) where you tell only the bare essentials with none of the interesting juicy details. I don't do cocktail parties very well (or wouldn't if I went to them) but I do love to write, and I shall do my best to entertain you here over the coming months, and maybe even years...

Welcome

Welcome to my blog !

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