Waxing Lyrical was the topic at the Writers’ Circle, Scarborough on Tuesday 3rd September 2013. What fun we had!
One of my contributions was a soppy sonnet called Starlight
(Sorry folks… have taken it off for edit for possible publication)
Letting Go
This post has been removed due to its competition submission (as a story variation) on 5th June 2015.
Facing the blank page
The next group of students to graduate from the University of Hull’s BA (Hons) in Creative Writing are ordering their caps and gowns as I write… and what have I done with my writing since graduating last July? Unashamedly self-published my short stories collection of course! I’ve also learned (the hard way) about what not to do when going down the self-publishing route. What doesn’t kill you etc, etc…
I am now faced with a blank page – the first in my beautiful new note book (my reward for completing a writing project). My beautiful new pen (another reward) is poised… ready for my next adventure on Writers’ Way: A devotional book of prayers and meditations (with sketches) to open a route into a personal relationship with God (something completely different from my disturbing slice-of-life short stories).
I know in facing this blank page that I’m not suffering from writers’ block… I’m merely waiting for my muse to inspire me with beautiful words with which to adorn the page. I don’t want to waste a first page experience with a sprint writing exercise to enable my words to flow from my head to my fingertips… I want a ready-made perfectly worded piece of prose so that my venture has a beautiful springboard to bounce off and get itself going. Maybe it should be a prayer then?
Whilst waiting for my muse to wake from its comatose state, my random thoughts search through the unorganised chaos of my imagination and, in a sudden flash, a blink of an eye that I would have missed had I not been waiting idly for something to happen, I discover why I can’t start. It’s so simple that it was difficult to fathom out at first. It is this: I haven’t let go of my characters from my stories yet. After all, I spent hours, days, weeks, months with them and know them intimately… like a second skin. I haven’t celebrated their lives… honoured the dead, as they say, in an official letting go ceremony. I’ve dashed straight on to the next thing without giving myself time to rest and reflect in the process of producing something I’ve created, and bask in the glory of its completion.
I look at my blank page again after my thoughts subside and… it has these beautiful words written on it – haiku style.
Prayers of devotion
embrace a new creation
to honour the dead.
See how it works? You can do a sprint exercise in your mind, not just on paper, and the words will write themselves.
Try it… you’ll see what I mean. You will need…
a blank page.
Have fun!
with love, Julie
PS. I believe a writing block can be likened to a prayer block. Therefore, if your writing’s blocked, pray – if your prayer’s blocked, write. If both should become blocked simultaneously, rest in random thoughts. These thoughts can become a prayer to provide you with words to write (or vice versa).
(Examples of pathways to prayer will be illustrated in my next project… watch this space)
Community Spirit in the Face of Tragedy
The events in relation to this reflective thought for the day may be old news now but with a stretch of imagination you can relate the analogy to anything of a similar nature.
….
There’s something about a tragedy that can bring a community together in a way that nothing else can. Two separate events recently perfectly highlighted God’s love for humankind in relationship to this.
The first illustration came from the fictional TV drama, Broadchurch, which had us gripped to our seats for its conclusion. It was revealed to us that the person responsible for the murder of a young boy at the beginning of the series was a member of that close community.
As part of the eulogy during the boy’s funeral, the vicar relayed to the small island community the message that God loves every one of us, and he talked about how God demonstrated this by sending His only son to pay the price for our sin. He said that we should forgive others as God has forgiven us, and even though forgiveness seems impossible in these circumstances we owe it to God to at least try. The final scene was set on the cliff top, above the beach where the boy’s body had been found, and the mother of the boy, surrounded by family and friends, lit a bonfire as a final farewell to her son. We were left with an image that was not one of tragedy, but one of hope, when householders along the shore line lit bonfires in succession, as a declaration of support for the family.
In the same week as this episode was shown, a second illustration to underline the message of God’s love came via an email. It had been sent as a round robin throughout Scarborough, North Yorkshire, as a response to the fatal stabbing of a teenage boy the previous weekend, the outcome of an alleged pre-organised fight. Nine teenagers had been taken in for questioning in connection with this. The email was sent in the wake of the aftermath, and offered a common place for people to gather to focus prayers of healing and peace for the victim’s family, friends of the murdered teenager, and also to pray for the young people involved. It was an open invitation to the whole town to come along and light a candle on the beach from a set time, near the place where the murder had occurred.
This simple act of lighting a candle (or a bonfire) as an act of prayer can serve as a reassurance of God’s presence in our times of trial. We do need be aware however that God is not responsible for the evil that happens in the world, and that he is there with us to help pick up the pieces when its consequence affects us. This is proven time and again through those He chooses to send as angels in our moments of need. In the two examples here, the angels were in the form of the fictitious vicar (via the writer of the drama series), and the sender of the email. Both events portrayed hope, fictional and factual, through the action of one person who utilised an opportunity to instigate an idea. An idea that helped to bring a community together through an act of prayer, mutual support, and provide a way forward towards healing and, perhaps eventually, forgiveness.
Psalm 147 verse 3 tells us that God heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. But God also wants to save us from ourselves and therefore in Colossians 3:13 we are told to ‘bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.’ (NIV) Sometimes, that means forgiving ourselves too.
Seeking revenge should never be an option
© Julie Fairweather
After a long labour… my book is born
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
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
They think it’s all over
I didn’t actually give anything up for Lent this Easter to show how serious I am about my faith – apart from writing on this blog (though as I have been too busy to even think about that, giving it up for six weeks counts more as a blessing than a hardship).
One thing I have done is work through the Gospel of Luke via Lent for Everyone by Tom Wright, which doesn’t finish until this Easter Saturday. I found it quite challenging facing The Passion, as I read the scriptures and the reflections each day, to look honestly at my behaviour in relation to my faith, and how I show Jesus to the world through that. Imagining myself as one of the disciples, or one of the crowd, in the situations portrayed in the book (as suggested by Wright) gave me a new insight into how God understands everything we go through, in real-life terms, because of what he did for us through Jesus Christ on the cross.
The whole experience has enabled me to link it in to current situations in my own life, especially decision making and choices as reactions to personal events, and how these relate to the story and the scriptures.
I have become closer to God this Lenten period and throughout Easter, knowing that he understands everything I am feeling at any given time or situation, because He has already experienced everything I have faced, am facing, or will ever have to face.
There was a beautiful explanation in the book about the Ascension of Jesus to Heaven. Put simply it is this: that Jesus goes up (to Heaven), the power (Holy Spirit) comes down, the kingdom (God’s) gets going.
God’s kingdom is about God running the world in a whole new way. We as Christians can’t just tell people about Jesus so they come to faith, we need to be receptive to the presence and the power of God so that we can be the ones through whom God’s kingdom comes.
‘There is an old Christian tradition that God sends each person into the word with a special message to deliver, with a special song to sing for others, with a special act of love to bestow.’ (John Powell, Through the Season of the Heart).
I pray that many more people have found themselves in God’s presence and power this Easter, and are ready to deliver their own special message to the world, for the coming of the kingdom.
Amen
Brain Overload
Sorry folks… this post has been removed as the poem it contained has been submitted for publication.
Coping with the C(r)ap
Have you been affected by the 1% c(r)ap on benefits the Government are feeding us with? This because, according to said Government, benefits have been rising more as a percentage than wages. I don’t know about anyone else’s situation but I feel I’m being punished for working for a living.
The Government say the amount my husband and I need to live on as a working-age couple is £111 a week, and 65% of any income we have above that amount is used to work out our housing benefit entitlement in part payment of rent (the only benefit we receive). This month, I received a £15 a month rise in my salary to take account of inflation for the year, but in effect will get £5 of it.
The same rule applies to a small private pension which has matured before I’ve reached state pension age (because the Government have moved the goal posts for retirement age). From this, 20% will be taken for income tax, 65% of the remaining 80% taken from housing benefit entitlement, and I will be left with 35% of the 80%. This, along with the above pay rise, will go towards making up the reduction in our housing benefit entitlement that’s coming in April – because the Government say we only need one bedroom and have two, so 14% will be taken from our housing benefit allowance to account for this.
The bottom line is that come April we will have less money than we have now (and I have had a pay rise!).
We have three alternatives to paying this 14% out of the amount the Government say we need to live on as a working-age couple (in effect this is a contradiction in terms), and these are written down on the letter informing us of the 14% cut. They are: to move into one-bedroom accommodation, take in a lodger or work more hours.
My response to this is: we love our two-bedroom flat in a part-sheltered housing complex and don’t want to move, we weren’t allowed to take in lodgers previously – as stated in our lease’s terms and conditions – yet now that’s ok? (can you imagine sharing your things in your flat with a stranger?), and working more hours only gives me 35% of what I earn anyway – as seen by the previous calculation. I’ll have to work a hell of a lot more hours to get the 14% extra I’ll have to pay based on that, and my health will not permit it – though it is not so bad I qualify for any health-related benefits. My husband is unemployed, unlikely to gain employment in the foreseeable future because of his age, and cannot claim any benefits, because I am working.
I don’t know who wrote the fairytale that people on benefits have loads of money. I’m certainly not one of those people. Having to be on a benefit of any kind is c(r)ap. Though we are grateful for the help we do receive, we can’t get any further forward.
Yet, living a life of joy is so simple… according to Brother Lawrence in ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’, and over 100 million people may already agree – because that’s how many copies have been sold. He believed that all we have to do is love God with all our heart and put our trust in him completely. If we live our life for His glory, we will live in the strength of His grace and he will equip us with everything we need to fulfil our role for Him.
I find when my thoughts and actions become selfish (remember at the centre of sin is ‘I’), and I move away from God, trying to do things myself, I start to worry about stuff like the above rant at the Government. Yet if I live my life as a continuous prayer walk with God at my side, I find that God provides for my needs, sometimes in surprising ways.
What we all have to remember is that God provides for our need and not our greed. I wish the Government would take heed of that and practice what they preach when they are making these cuts and feeding us on c(r)ap strategies. I haven’t noticed them giving up much themselves to help the country back on its feet, have you? It might be a cliché, but money really is the root of all evil.
Then again, we’ve pushed God out of our lives so much that maybe He is waiting until the country is on its knees before He steps in to save us all (from ourselves).
With blessings to you all.
Please comment with a rant – or a rave – of your own… whatever your opinion is. (Your email address is not published)
New Year’s Greetings
Facebook is a procrastination to my life as a writer but it has come into its own for me this Christmas.
I had made up photo albums for my son and daughter as Christmas presents (with real printed photos!) and Facebook was there to appease some of the disappointment at my son not receiving his in the post. (I swear I’ll never post anything to the Czech Republic again if it doesn’t turn up soon!)
I had planned using my official time off from work over the festive season to complete the final edit of my short story collection, ready to send off to my proofreader friend prior to publication. But with these photos not arriving for my son, I spent precious writing time sorting through and uploading JPEG versions of some of the photos onto Facebook.
It turned out to be time well-spent because not only could my son view them but the whole of my virtual family and friends could too. It has been lovely to catch up with what everyone is doing over Christmas and read the comments the photos have attracted, thereby bringing alive shared memories from the past.
Now that I have travelled the nostalgic path of the past and got it out of my system (for another year), I can look forward to a New Year’s Eve that will not see me wallowing in the wine of self-pity. Instead, I will be celebrating with a final read through of my short story collection before sending it off to my proofreader friend prior to publication.
Wishing you all a blessed New Year.