“Start writing no matter what. The water does not flow unless the faucet is turned on.”
Louis L’Amour
For me, writing is an absolute luxury, an escape from the every day. As a child, I loved the fact I could venture into another world in a book and imagine for myself how the characters and scenes appeared.
When I was about seven, I wrote a book about a little island I passed on the way to school across the chain ferry at Sandbanks, it was called The Cormorant Island. Hardly a best seller, but it was a humorous tale about a little island that would appear only at low tide. This was when the cormorants would meet and stand in orderly rows to discuss important topics. They would posture with their wings outstretched in the sun but rather comically at regular intervals during the meeting, the last cormorant at the back would get washed away by a stray wave. Of course it ended up with only one cormorant left. Well, I was only little!
Since growing up a bit, I have written several articles for magazines on varying topics from the elegant world of Jane Austen to the rather more practical reality of camping.
At last, I am particularly excited to be over half way through writing my first novel. Having spent many years with several plot ideas, I have finally disciplined myself to regular writing slots and the book is coming along well. It is the most incredible feeling to be creating a fictional world into which I hope others will enjoy escaping and over which I have total control although I say total, to a certain extent the book is writing itself. I certainly didn’t plan the latest character, she sort of just came along and it seems to be working. Well watch this space anyway….
