I knew I wanted to write for children when I was fourteen. I think it was the absolute joy of finding all those fairytales, reading C.S.Lewis and Hugh Lofting, J.R.R.Tolkien, Hans Christian Andersen, and the amazing fables of Greece, Rome and India. I think I still loved those kinds of stories in my adult life…
One Liners
I have a penchant for comedians with one liners that make one laugh. From the strange to the bizarre. Even old Bob Hope can make me smile sometimes. I recall Steven Wright saying he had just put a skylight in his new apartment and that the people upstairs were furious. There is something about making…
I Will If You Will
The Western world is very keen to discuss individuality as long as it falls within certain parameters.To show your individuality as entrepreneurship is hotly advocated, but individuality that dissents from the norms is degenerated. I have often wondered where these norms comes from as they change over the generations (you only have to look at…
What Is Beauty?
We are not obsessed by beauty but we are very attracted to what we perceive as beautiful. I first realised this forceably when watching a programme about Madagascar and the lemurs and the different status of lemurs amongst the local population. There came on screen a black lemur that was a little ugly in the…
The Small And The Immense
I was struck when I learned about the atom – that most of it is empty space. Electrons and protons circling at a distance a nucleus. And I vividly remember thinking how like the Universe it was: things in orbits, forces in play, unceasing motion and mostly . . . emptiness. I doubt there are…
Wet Dogs And Sleepless Nights
Yesterday it really rained for the first time in weeks and my rough collie, ever the eighteen month old lady, sat in the garden playing pull the garden hose (the lovely roll I make is now a squiggly mess around the flower beds) and was thoroughly drenched. Even after a hearty rub with the large…
Memories Are Made Of This
As early as the fifth century BCE the Greeks were making the most of their memory by creating the technique of imagining a room, and assigning the things they have to remember to the objects in the room. The technique is successful for two reasons: the room is one you already know well and the…
Natural Hate
Hate is not a feeling I think I know. We usually use descriptions such as loathe or intensely dislike, but hate has always had the connotation of wanting to eradicate, be happy to see dead, and such feelings I have never had. But being told I ‘hated’ someone has made me think about hatred and…
The Passing Rain
We all have our comfort zones. Those places that take us away from ourselves for a while, or place us in the middle of ourselves without distractions. Wholly dependent upon character they are a haven, a solitude, an outlet and a reorganisation of the brain to complete or attempt to complete the other things we…
Early Morning Meeting
It was bright and warm again this morning. There were a few lazy clouds in a mostly blue sky and the sunshine was just beginning to warm my face. The field had been cut last week and I climbed over the metal gate to see a fox on the far side. It was sniffing around,…