Category Archives: Journeying

Writers on the Loose… well, one writer anyway

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My recently performed readings with Writers on the Loose held at Taylor’s Cafe and Bookshop, Bar Street, Scarborough, are available as a FREE PDF download for visitors to my website.

ENJOY!

I welcome feedback if you feel so inclined. 

PERFORMANCE 12.9.14 FREE PDF FILE

After reading please visit my Publications page for the link to my complete collection at Amazon – where you can read the longer title story ‘Picking at the Bones’ from the ‘look inside’ link. The stories in the collection vary in length. Or simply click this link to take you there now.

PS  Kindle Version £1.84 not £1.79 as stated in PDF File.

(SINCE THIS POST NEW VAT LAWS HAVE INCREASED PRICE TO £2.15)

 

 

Writers on the Loose are at it again…

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A new selection of writing from Writers on the Loose will be performed at Taylor’s Cafe, Bar Street, Scarborough, at 6.30pm on Friday 12 September. Tickets £5 (to include a glass of prosecco – or alternative). Tickets are limited and will be available from Taylor’s from the afternoon of 11th August.

WotL Members (in alphabetical order):
Ian Baird, John Cooper, Julie Fairweather, Shirley Waite.

WOTL.jpg

 

The Postcard Challenge – Final Presentation

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Well folks… here at last is the link to the video regarding The Postcard Challenge held at Vernon Road Library, Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The event ran from April 24-27 2014 as part of the Scarborough Flare Festival.
Before viewing the presentation on UTube, if you would like more information about the event please visit all or either of the following:
http://www.scarboroughflare.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/juliemfairweather.co.uk
My last post’s report
For now, let’s enjoy the breath-taking moments from Scarborough Flare’s Postcard Challenge whilst relaxing to the beautiful background music. (Surely you can spare 20 minutes to simply relax?)
Hope to see you all again soon…

 

My Elusive On-Line Presence

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I’m trying to build an online presence – which is an aim I’ve put on hold whilst I’ve been organising my two events for the Scarborough Flare Festival in April 2014. This has been one of my aims since an extremely knowledgeable young man (Liam Siddall) presented a talk on that very thing at Scarborough Writers’ Circle earlier this year.

I went along to a free consultation at Liam’s place of business (Imarge) and, following discussions around what I already had in place, Liam designed an individual plan for my way forward. The outcome was that primarily I need some training to make sure I’m monitoring my networking resources adequately, that they are all of consistent design and that they are inter-connected – thereby directing people back to my website… where I hope to interest readers in my progress as a writer.

I’ve been attempting to get things up and running as much as I can myself as I’m not a stranger to using computers, but I admit the social networking side of it is a little chaotic for me and I’m guessing my way through most of it.  I have got my head round some of it and I’m at least posting regular tweets on Twitter and linking those to my personal Facebook – which then directs people to a Facebook page I’ve created. Not bad for someone who doesn’t really know what they are doing! I have to admit to neglecting my website due to keeping on top of these online social activities I’ve started – with more to follow.

I feel ready now for the expert training to move forward with this and I’m hoping to free up a couple of hours (including some head space freedom) to get along to a training session. 

Meanwhile, please visit my Creative Breathing in the Community Facebook Page, which is a run up to The Postcard Challenge at the Scarborough Flare Festival in April 2014, and I look forward to reading one or two of your own special moments on there.

Blessings to all, Julie

PS I know I don’t need all these buttons…

Scarborough Flare is on its way…

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The 2014 Scarborough Literature Festival preparations are hovering in the background as Coastival gathers speed. Full program and tickets for Literature Festival will be available from the Information Desk at the Brunswick Centre (Scarborough) from March. Meanwhile see my events page for details of two of the projects I’m involved in… Writers on the Loose (Again) and The Postcard Challenge.

 

Now where was I? Oh yes, serenity…

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I finished work at 1.30pm today and walked through Scarborough town feeling at peace with the world.  Why?  I have no idea. In the midst of my life’s busyness I found myself smiling, hardly noticing that we are almost at the end of the first month of the year and still there is calmness at the central part of me. It could be that I have just recovered from a hacking cough I thought I’d be saddled with forever, or it could be that I’m on target with my current writing projects (always worth an act of kindness or two to myself), or it could be that the Freedom in Christ course I’m attending is actually working for me. Delving deeper each week (4th session last night) I end up with more questions than answers (as is usual when I attend these things), but I’m feeling pretty good with the journey that is my life, my writing and my faith.

I’m inclined to be bold and state that I’m walking on air in comfortable new shoes whilst reciting the serenity prayer. It’s working better than any other New Year’s resolution I ever made (see previous post).  

 Julie

Dithering on the edge of decision steals precious time

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Still sort of facing a blank page with regards to my devotional book in progress, with many of the resources I’ve written branching off in different directions. The conclusion is that there are more things happening here and it is in danger of spiralling out of control – if it was ever within my control to begin with.

I have written enough material to cover various aspects of devotion to fill a filing cabinet… and am toying with ideas on how to proceed in weeding out irrelevant stuff and stuff that I’ve not repeated elsewhere. Hands up if you know what I’m even talking about. Ah, you must be a writer!

Do I concentrate on creating this work for an elective audience, i.e. the church I attend, or do I aim for a broader elective audience, i.e. all churches in the circuit, or do I make it secular?  Every time I look at the content of what I’ve written I feel it could be adapted to fit all three of these. And, most importantly, the emotional aspects need to be separated too, ie, personal experiences and insights, a broader view and a still broader view for the differentiating needs of the potential readers of the three options.  Maybe I have answered my own dilemma through talking it through with you on my blog?  I have three separate projects.

I know in my heart this is what is hindering progress. I’m trying to work on all three simultaneously. This is me and my creativity in a frenzied mind game… my need of the stimulus that several ongoing projects feeds me yet also the need to focus on completing something.  I could be in for a long haul.

Maybe I should stop singing ‘one day at a time, sweet Jesus’ and instead sing ‘one thing at a time…’

After a long labour… my book is born

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My collection of short stories Picking at the Bones is now available as an EBook from Amazon.co.uk (£3.33) and Amazon.com ($5.19) – you can read the first story (and part of the second one) free from the ‘look inside’ button on the site. However, if you’re tempted to leave a review based on reading this alone, please resist. There are 22 stories in the collection and they are all different. So the review would not be fair comment.

If you would like to purchase a paperback copy (£6 plus p & p), please contact me via this site by sending a reply to any post (I won’t publish your contact details on here, and any comments you make will not be published either, unless you specifically request this).

If you look at this link Festival Fringe Readings you will find further samples from the collection there, which were performed at the Scarborough Festival Fringe Event recently (one complete story and two short extracts from longer stories).

The majority of the collection contains ‘slice of life’ stories that slide underneath the surface of characters’ lives in an attempt to distinguish the truth from gossip and lies. Vulnerable narrators drop in now and then to pick at the bones of the characters’ failings to add another dimension to the reader’s perception of what is and isn’t true. 

Changing the subject slightly, I was approached in the town centre of Scarborough recently by a pleasant young man who was representing the British Red Cross Charity. He was raising awareness about the service it provides in the UK. You’ve all seen the advert, no doubt, where the hooded girl declares, ‘I am a crisis. And I don’t care who you are.’ I spent a good while chatting to him and was impressed by his level of knowledge about the organization and staggered to learn of the diversity of the work that is carried out in the name of the British Red Cross, some of which equips vulnerable people with the means to help themselves and thereby become self-sufficient.

Unfortunately, as is the case with many of us these days, I was unable to sign up to make a regular direct debit payment as a donation. But I can’t get the charity out of my mind. It touched my soul, perhaps because my writing tends to be about vulnerable people, and I want to try and support it. Therefore, if I’m fortunate enough to sell any books, I pledge to donate 25p from my royalties share from Ebook sales and 50p from Paperbacks to this cause, as a starting point.

If, when browsing the samples of the stories from this post (or through reading anything contained on my website), you yourself feel inclined to make a small donation of your own to this charity, please visit this link to the British Red Cross website.  You can give anything you like as a one-off payment or as a regular commitment.

I thank you in advance for your precious donation, whether it’s made directly to them or through the purchase of a book.

   With love and prayers to you all,

   Julie                    

Nearing the end of gestation

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On Wednesday, 3 April, 2013 at 11:56, I sent my collection of short stories (Picking at the Bones) off for a final quote.

         I was sick of dithering and changing stuff every time I read it. I’ve probably over edited and turned a bestseller into a flop. But, there comes a time when you have to grab the bull by the horns and say ‘it is finished’, and that time was at 11:56 on Wednesday 3rd April 2013.

         On Tuesday, 9 April, 2013 at 3:00, I picked up the proof copy of the book. I actually felt embarrassed collecting it from the publisher’s office – isn’t that silly? It’s probably because I am quite a shy person, underneath the bravado I try and show to the world by attending events to promote my work. I almost ran out of the building with the book tucked under my arm, like it was the biggest secret ever. Oh dear! And there’s me thinking I would be elated… maybe when the final print is up and running it will feel different.

         This writing lark is not easy.

         What a beautifully strange experience it was to hold an actual book that I could stroke and fondle as I read my stories in a final proofread of my own. It was nothing like proofing paper printouts… I felt I was reading the stories for the first time. I enjoyed it – and I’ve read them a hundred times already! Inevitably, I found a few errant typos here and there that need sorting before the final print run.

         The book is now in the hands of a volunteer proofreader, as a double-check, whose latest report said she’d read four of the stories up to now, wanting to take it slow so she didn’t miss anything that may need amending. A couple of words she’s used to describe her experience of it so far are ‘interesting’ and ‘surprising’. Not sure how to take that really, and wonder if she’s finding it a slog. I’ll see what the prognosis is when I see her today and ask her direct if appropriate. But… am I ready for the answer?

         I received excellent feedback from the Festival Fringe Event I took part in, where I read one story and two extracts from the collection, and took several pre-orders for the book! So, it would cement my growing confidence if the proofreader comes up with some icing for that. (I have seen her, with icing in progress, since saying this.)

         I keep thinking back to 31st December 2012 when I reported on here that I had finished writing the collection and was sending it off for proofreading. I did quite a lot of editing and re-crafting as a result of that. Three month’s on and it is at proofreading stage yet again. It then has to go back to the people who are making it into books for me, for the amendments and finalisation… but can I trust them to get it right? Shall I ask for yet another proof copy to double check the amendments are correct before the print run?

         This writing lark is definitely not easy.

         What you have to remember in all this is that it is my firstborn I’m sending out there. I need to be careful with the nurturing stages and not set it free into the big wide world until we are both ready to cope with that.

         I’d wanted it to be delivered in time for my Scarborough Festival Fringe Event on 11 April but, knowing that was a tall order, I’d created a leaflet to hand out with three extracts from the book that I would be reading. I’ll try and pop a copy of that onto Kindle over the weekend as a freebie for you (or for as minimal a charge as Kindle permits) whilst I’m waiting for the book to come out. I’ll let you know when it’s on there for you to look at… and maybe you’ll be tempted to buy the book when I’ve finally launched it after the birth.

         Here’s hoping next time you read me on here I’ll be celebrating.

         love and prayers to you all,

         Julie