SO I GUESS I'M A WRITER ...

What a crazy crazy week I have had! Talk about Highs & Lows, Swings & Roundabouts, Ups and Downs! Half the time I haven't known if I am over here or over there. I have been so disconnected from myself most of the week that even people I know are saying thngs like "You look lost." How right they are - I have never been so lost! I suppose it started on Tuesday when the phone bill came in. That, like the gas, elecricity, water and Council Tax, is higher this year than it was last year. Hubby is working all the overtime he can get but we still never seem to have enough money. This has made me see that the likelyhood of me changing jobs and reducing my hours this year is feasibly zilch. And with that realisation came the full force of complete dispondency, which metaphorically plunged me into the most despairingly bleak depression it is possible to go and still retain an element of humanity. I lost my appetite, all I wanted to do was sleep. And sleep. And sleep. And I didn't care, that is the really scary thing. I didn't care. I do remember one thought ringing in my mind over and over again, though. It was this: If I can't give it everything, I can't give it anything. My writing career had shuddered to a halt and was effectively over. The new Yuck book was abandoned. I steered clear of my blog and my journal. I went onto the WW site to say goodbye to everyone and resign, I was that serious. But when I got there, guess what I found? It was the interview I gave to WW some time ago about my writing. It was at the top of the home page and it came out and hit me with so much force I almost reeled from it. Not only the interview - but comments from fellow members, all telling me how inspiring they'd found it. It moved me to silent tears, I can tell you.



So of course my writing career isn't over. And with that inkling of hope came a fresh burst of energy. I scrapped all three of the Yuck 3 drafts because they were all completely wrong. But the fourth and most perfect one flowed from my pen inside an hour and it is this one that I shall email over to Sarah the Publisher on Sunday. Then a letter arrived from Hubby's Aunt Amy - a very private lady - especially for me, congratulating me on the publication of the first Yuck! I have, she tells me, joined the ranks of successful family writers since three of her children are all published authors - a fact I never knew (and I am not sure Hubby did either!). And tonight an email from Sarah the Publisher. Yucketypoo is being considered for a board game and would I please click on the link to the manufacturers to get a feel of it. So, sweet, loyal, supportive Blog Buddies, what is all this telling me do you think? Is this just another exceedingly high point on life's rollercoaster? Will I ride it a while before it goes into yet another rapid decline? Will there ever be ink in my pen again? Or will there be further blots on the future? Who can know? And how long should one wait to find out, I wonder ........

CLEVER EDDIE ...

Does anyone remember my blog for 3rd October last year when Hubby and I returned from the beautiful Outer Hebredes? One of the characters I mentioned was our driver and tour guide Eddie with whom I'd struck up a particular friendship because we are both writers who were on the verge of having our first book published. I mention this today because, when I got home last night, Hubby was beaming at me. "There's a lovely surprise there for you," he said. "I like surprises!" I responded and looked. It took a moment but then I exclaimed in wonder, "It's Eddie's book!" And it was - a beautifully illustrated story book produced in the way of the old fashioned children's books, with the text wrapped in luscious full colour illustrations and stories and poems like the kind I had read to me as a little girl. And on the back cover is the review I wrote after Eddie showed me the draft copies back in October! There was a lovely letter with it, addressed to both Hubby and I, and the last thing he says in it is "I hope everything is going well for your book."

I am so chuffed! I didn't mention it on 3rd October but for quite a lot of the two weeks of our tour, Eddie and I spent a number of coffee stops discussing our books. I had already self-published a number of poetry books for children (copies available - just give me a call) which had sold well on a local scale, but I had never attempted anything nearly so ambitious as Eddie, and I am just so pleased that he achieved his dream! I will of course, return the favor and said him a copy of Yucketypoo because he was with me when I got a call from Sarah the Publisher to say that a women's magazine with a circulation of 75, 000 were going to run a feature on it in time for Christmas.

I think I need to circulate with more writers. We feed off one another so well and the mutual support is always there. This is one of the reasons that I love belonging to the WriteWords community - and possibly why I always get a reply from any other writers I contact from time to time.

As for Eddie and his "Grandad's Tales" - all the best to him. And if you know any children under eight who'd appreciate comfortable, old-fashioned, yet completely original bedtime stories, get in touch and I'll tell you how you can obtain a copy at the price of £5.99.

Have a good day.

A FIVER'S WORTH OF LUCK?

How was your Mother's Day? Middle and Youngest Sisters and I - plus the three youngest nephews - gathered at Mother's on Sunday afternoon for a Family Tea. Husbands three were all working and unable to make it (well, that was their story!) - but it was actually really nice - just the four of us (the three boys ran about like bombs on legs all afternoon, howling, giggling and squealing)enjoying each other's company. We sat round Mother's little kitchen table, picking at the giganticus buffet Mother had put on (despite being told not to and that we'd all bring a contribution) which concluded with a spoon a piece diving into the chocolate gateaux - and oh, it was scrummy! It made a pleasant change and Mother enjoyed it which was the main thing - although she did complain a bit about the amount of food left over (her fault entirely, she should have just let us bring our contributions!) - and the gateaux was to die for, so who's complaining?



On my way into the office yesterday morning, I looked down and spotted a perfectly healthy five pound note lying on the ground. No-one else had seen it and certainly no-one was looking for it so I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I am aware there is a moral dillema here - was I right to keep it? Or should I have handed it in at the police station? Or - having found it - was I morally obliged to give it to charity? Will I burn in hell for buying two cups of coffee with it? Answers on a postcard please ...



In truth that little fiver made me smile because finding it made me feel as if someone else was smiling at me. And it boosted my morale (if not my morals) because I have been going through a major identity crisis the past few days. I think this is because my working life and writing life are coverging into one gigantic unmanageable monster. I need 48 hours in every 24 - and it just isn't going to happen. Yesterday, for example, I worked all day then went home and worked on the new book for nearly three hours. I know millions of other writers have to do the same thing - but, boy is it tiring or what? And tonight will be the same. So much for me finding a part time job! There just aren't that many about and what there is gets snapped up in the blink of an eye. It is very draining, all this! But I will manage somehow. Why? Because fate handed me a five pound note when I least expected it, that's why. At least that is what I am telling myself.

I am sneakily finishing this post during a quiet five minutes at work. In approximately thirty minutes I am going out to meet Mother for lunch - she has made a full recovery by the way - and she has insisted that she will pay today and I am going to let her - as I do once in a blue moon - because she seems to like being able to occasionally.

So I am going to sign off for now. Have a good afternoon one and all!