Imogen Clark's Blog, page 14

NEW Book Deal!

Hi

I have big news!

I have just signed a new four book deal with my wonderful publishers Lake Union. I’m delighted as you can imagine. The first two books are written and ready to start the editing process. One will come out in the autumn and the second next spring, I hope. And then I need to get my thinking cap on for the others! I have an idea for book three. Book four is an adventure waiting to happen!

Also, yesterday I came out in translation for the first time – German! There’s such a buzz attached to seeing your words in a different language ( but are they my words then? It’s a moot point! ) Anyway, so far so good. The book currently has a lovely orange Amazon Bestseller tag which is great. You can see the book here if you know anyone that reads German.

 

So I’ll sign off now but please get in touch if you want to connect. I’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

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My trip to Chelsea Flower Show

I’m no gardener. I mean, I do have a garden but it’s mainly lawn and a few ill-chosen plants that somehow manage to thrive despite the lack of love and attention.

But I do like gardens! Who doesn’t? And a girl can dream, right?

So off I trundled to Chelsea Flower Show to see how it’s meant to be done. They make it look so easy, those proper gardeners. Beautiful specimens all pushed in together so there are no gaps for the weeds to show through and each the perfect size and colour for its allotted space. To be honest, it was all a little overwhelming for the total beginner but, undeterred, I picked up all the planting schemes that I could carry and hoped for the best.

And now I’m home. I have lots of space and a lovely clear image in my mind’s eye of how I would like things to look. Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea how to achieve it but I can learn. How hard can it be?!

Here are a few of my photos so you can see how the experts do it. Maybe in a few months time I might have something of my own to show you. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

So, how about you? Do you have green fingers? I’d love to see a picture.

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I’ve been waiting . . .

Hi

So many things have happened since I last wrote. I’m still using my bullet journal so that’s a good start. It’s not necessarily as pretty as some of the others that I see but it’s serving a purpose and keeping me accountable and on top of things so that’s a job done.

I’m having some work done on my website which is taking longer than I’d hoped but I miss my blog so I’ve decided to carry on whilst we wait.

Lots has happened since I last wrote and if you are a Newsletter Subscriber you’ll have already read about a lot of it so I shan’t repeat myself. But right now I’m building up to the publication of my new book Where the Story Starts. I’m feeling a little calmer this time, having been through the process twice already but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the emotional turmoil of publishing a novel.

Anyway, there will no doubt be lots of publication noise from me over the next couple of weeks so I’ll be back with something a little more meaningful after that.

Until then, I hope you are enjoying the spring and reading some great books.

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Can I bullet journal? Well, watch this space!

Hi there

So what are you going to do in 2109 that you haven’t done before?

Not thought of anything yet? No worries – there are still three days to go!

I have my plan all thought through. I am going to try (yet again) to establish a bullet journal. Those people that know me might remember that I’ve been wittering on about this for a while. I almost started this time last year and did actually have a go the year before that but failed to get it going properly.

But, despite these epic crash-and-burns, I still can’t seem to get the idea out of my head. The universe is clearly sending me a signal to have another try..

 

 

I can hear a few of you asking what a bullet journal is – basically it’s a paper-based productivity tool designed to make us more mindful about how we spend our two most precious resources – time and energy. In a nutshell, through a simple system of lists and markings it enables you to keep a track of everything you are thinking about, should be doing and want to do . . .  all in one place.

This appeals to me on a number of levels. I’ve always kept diaries, am very goal driven and have various daily routines already well established so I should be a perfect candidate. And of course I adore stationery (well, who doesn’t to be honest?!)

Now, my logical side tells me that I should have this kind of thing stored digitally in apps that are available to me through my phone (and therefore constantly about my person). and let’s face it, there are hundreds of options. However, my heart is singing a very different tune. It wants me to have a paper system where I can write things in coloured inks and cross tasks off with a decisive sweep of a pen.

The other thing about bullet journals is that the best of them are just so beautiful. Look #bujo up on your favourite social media outlet and marvel at what people do. Here is a Pinterest page by way of example. Just have a quick click on the link (but please don’t wander off!) Aren’t they gorgeous? How much would I love to have a journal like those sitting on my desk? More than you can possibly imagine, actually.

But here’s the problem, my resistance, the thing that causes friction each time I decide to try – basically there is more chance of Ilkley Town winning the FA cup than me creating something like that. I can’t draw. I can’t do fancy lettering. I have no artistic imagination. I can barely copy let alone come up with an idea of my own.  As a result, each time I decide I’m going to start a bullet journal I get totally overwhelmed and give up.

However, giving up is not like me and I don’t like doing it. So I’ve had a little think and I have concluded that much as I would love to have spreads (that’s what you call the pages) like these drawn by my writer friend Holly ( @holly.journals)

                    

having beautifully laid out pages like these is not the primary purpose of a bullet journal ( see above ). And the primary purpose is something I CAN achieve as long as I resign myself to the fact that it might not be that pretty!

So now, with three days to go before the start of the new year I am preparing to begin my new journal. And it’s an excuse to buy more stationery so what’s not to love?

My supplies!

So what are you doing that’s new for 2019? Let me know in the comments.

Best wishes

 

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Why did no one tell me?

Hi there

One of the many wonderful things about midlife is how much you now know! I am constantly telling my kids that they should listen to my advice because I am very wise. Of course, they just laugh at me and do things their own way, exactly as I did when I was their age. But that’s okay because eventually they will work out that all my experience does count for something and they would do well to listen!

And I’m not alone. I am surrounded by women who are learning new skills, building businesses and succeeding in their chosen fields by using all the stuff that they’ve learned along the way.

And age is a distinct advantage. When I turned 40 I finally worked out that I didn’t care what other people thought (or at least not nearly as much as I had done up until that point.) Instead of the crowd-pleasing, rule-abiding goody-two-shoes that I’d always been, I started to rebel. Don’t get me wrong – I didn’t do anything really naughty. But I did start to question those in authority if I thought it was appropriate and challenge when I might previous have just accepted. And it felt so liberating.

Since I turned 50 I’ve had another revelation. Not only do I no longer worry about what other people think but now I realise that they rarely think about me at all. Everyone leads such busy life that they don’t have time or energy to waste on what others are up to and we can merrily fly under their radar without them even batting an eyelid. I wish someone had told me that when I was in my 20s.

Someone else who has learned this is curve model Rachel Peru.

Rachel came to modelling in her late 40s and is flying. It is highly likely that you will have seen her in a campaign as she poses proudly for a lingerie shoot showing off her fabulous curves and her beautiful and naturally grey hair. Rachel is on a mission to make older women not only visible but oozing with self-confidence and she’s not alone. You only have to have been to the cinema recently to see how the world is embracing those women who might previously have been overlooked.

As well as modelling, Rachel has recently started a podcast Out of the Bubble in which she interviews women who have, just like her, been inspired to try new things and succeed in midlife. And this week I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a guest.

You can hear us chatting about my journey over the last ten years. It’s an honest conversation where we discuss finding self-confidence, discovering new paths and the dreaded imposter syndrome. You can listen to it HERE.

I bet you’re dead wise too. So what have you learned on the way that you would want to pass on to your children or your younger self? Tell me in the comments below. I’m all ears.

 

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Should I still send Christmas cards?

When I was a little girl I adored Christmas cards. The postman came twice a day back then and on a Sunday when it was Christmas and I remember running to the front door every time I heard the letterbox snap. Cards started to trickle in at the start of December and pretty soon it was a bit like Harry Potter getting letters inviting him to Hogwarts (although with fewer owls!) – we were swamped.

I loved everything about them – the shapes, the handwriting, the interesting stamps and that was all before we’d even opened the envelopes. Then I’d help my mum stick them up around the house where they would flap annoyingly until Twelfth night. The cards were a magical part of my Christmas.

How very different things are these days. Email and Facebook mean that I’m in touch with most of my friends on an almost daily basis. Then there are all the issues thrown up by climate change – producing cards, the miles travelled deliver them not to mention the cost of a stamp. Whether or not to send cards at Christmas seems to have become a bit of an ethical conundrum.

A few years ago I remember it became fashionable to make an announcement to all and sundry that instead of going to the expense of buying the cards, the sender would make an equivalent donation to charity. I know this was very well intentioned but I couldn’t help thinking that it might also be a convenient excuse used by those who just couldn’t be bothered to write them. So I continued writing and sending.

Then one year I decided that enough was enough. What exactly was the point of going to the trouble of choosing the cards, writing little messages inside and queuing in the post office for stamps, I wondered. There was almost no one on my list that didn’t already know all my news and surely in the run up to Christmas I could think of better things to do with my time?

Yet isn’t choosing things especially for people that you’re fond of and putting yourself out a little bit all part of what Christmas is about? And then I thought about what it would be like not to get any cards in return. I just couldn’t imagine it and the thought made me so inexorably sad that I had to have an extra mince pie just to console myself! Yes, it’s an extra, not entirely necessary job that must be done to a deadline, it’s expensive and time-consuming and it’s a bugger getting all those little blu-tac marks off afterwards but Christmas without Christmas cards? I just can’t imagine it.

So I’ve written them again this year. Granted there are fewer to send each time and I get fewer in return but if just one person opens a card from me and smiles to themselves about some memory that we share then that’s reason enough to put pen to paper.

So how about you? Are you still sending cards?

 

 

 

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When did I get so anxious?!

Hi there

My family would say that I am a worrier – but they are wrong! I don’t worry – I plan (which is not the same thing at all.)

It’s not like I assume that things will go wrong or fret about things that haven’t even happened yet. That would be worrying, right? It’s more that I have a solution for every scenario JUST IN CASE! That’s definitely not worrying. To me that’s just being prepared.

So, for example, imagine we’re going to the theatre and we intend to go in the car. I will have worked out how long it will take to get there in good traffic, bad traffic and also checked the train times just in case the car won’t start. Well, theatre tickets are expensive – especially for six of us and I’m taking no chances. But that’s not anxiety. That’s good planning! Because I’m not the anxious type.

Or at least, I wasn’t . . .

 

But suddenly being anxious has become a thing.

I’m not sure when it started. It’s kind of crept up on me over the last year or so. For a while I didn’t even notice that my thought processes had changed but then I heard myself talking and I sounded a bit like my mum ( sorry Mum x). ‘I don’t really like driving in the dark/on the motorway/to somewhere I don’t know.’

What?! I’m a competent, independent woman who has been merrily driving herself to new places on the motorway in the dark for over thirty years. Why then did I suddenly feel like this was asking a little too much of me?

My ability to make a decision took a hit next. I dithered over the final click when I was booking things, hovered about in shops picking things up and putting them down again and please don’t ask me where we should meet for coffee!

Of course, we all know what is going on here. In fact, it appears that every single change that has come over me recently, both physical and emotional, can be attributed to the same thing which is handy. It’s like I have a ready-made excuse for every bad mood or argument for the foreseeable future which is all very well but I don’t want an excuse. I’d rather just not be difficult and tetchy and indecisive and anxious. I was quite happy with the way I was before.

So, I’ve been on a mission to try and improve matters. Here’s what I’m trying:

Be kind to myself. I’ve stopped saying yes when what I really want to say is no and I’m no longer beating myself up if I don’t get to the end of my To Do list each day.
Look for the positive. It’s not always easy to find when you feel like this but I’m doing my best because positivity seems be infectious.
Yoga. At least if I can still touch my toes and get out of a chair without making that little ‘ouf ‘ sound then I don’t feel quite so ancient!
Meditation. I was a sceptic but I’ve been at it for a while now and it’s growing on me.
Sleep, diet and exercise. How dull are these but doing them all in appropriate measures seems to help.

 

 

I have to say that I’m not that keen on Anxious Imogen. She’s a nuisance and she gets in my way. I’ve been in London doing radio interviews this week and The Thing about Clare launches worldwide on Saturday. I don’t have time to fret. Life is too short to be overthinking the small stuff so Anxious Imogen is not welcome (although no doubt she’ll be popping up to help me with Christmas soon!)

If you have any top tips for combatting midlife anxiety then please comment in the box. I’ll try pretty much anything!

 

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How to mark the Big 5-0!

My friend is about to turn fifty and she’s having a party to mark the occasion. And why not? It’s quite an achievement to get to half a century!

But the wording of her invitation was a little odd. Instead of being excited and enthusiastic, I sensed a reluctance to engage with the birthday itself. It’s almost as if she’s ashamed that she’s only having a party because she can’t think of anything better to do.

I think this is 50th birthday pressure at work!

When I was approaching fifty, people asked me how I was going to celebrate for months beforehand. I know that each time there’s a zero at the end of your age it’s a bit special but being fifty seemed to be more of an event than all the milestone birthdays rolled into one. And with that came pressure . . .

When expectations were so high, I began to feel like nothing I did could possibly match up. I’d had some special treats in the run up to my birthday but I was stupidly worried that the day itself might be a bit of an anti-climax.

So I gave myself a talking to.

My thought process went thus: what would be your perfect day?

Well that was easy – a day on a Caribbean beach followed by dinner alfresco basking in the golden light of a spectacular sunset with a warm breeze to gently lift my hair from my face. Sounds idyllic right?

Sunset in Zanzibar from our family holiday in 2017

But I live in Yorkshire and getting to Barbados for the day wasn’t entirely practical, especially not with my children in the mix. And there is no guarantee of golden light in high summer here, let alone once autumn arrives.

So instead, I broke my perfect day down into its constituent parts. It seemed I wanted 1) seaside, and 2) food outside. Now that I could achieve.

So I went to Bridlington to walk on the golden sands and then had a picnic on Ilkley Moor with my family. And even though it wasn’t quite my perfect day, it really wasn’t that far off, given the limitations of real life.

Ice cream on Bridlington beach

Champagne on Ilkley Moor

 

 

But it was memorable and that, I realised eventually, was what was making me fret. It wasn’t that I needed to do something spectacular. It was more that I wanted it to stand out in my mind as a special day.

So my friend might be apologetic about having a house party to celebrate her 50th birthday but actually it’s not about what you do. It’s HOW you do it. Making memories doesn’t depend on the backdrop. It depends on the people that you share the time with.

 

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Bestselling Books!

Hi there.

Well it’s all go around here. Not two months after Postcards From a Stranger hit the top of the Amazon kindle charts in the UK and Australia but my second book The Thing About Clare does the same and my feet have barely touched the ground!

Clare (as I affectionately like to call it to stop me having to type the whole name out all the time) isn’t actually published until 1st December but I was lucky enough to have it picked as one of the Amazon First Reads for November so First Read and Prime members have been able to get hold of a copy early and it’s those lovely readers that catapulted it to the top of the charts.

If you happen to live in the Ilkley area, I will be having a little launch party for the book on 2nd December at toasthouse. Here’s the link to the event. I’ll be reading a short passage and there will be copies of both books to buy if you’re looking for Christmas presents. And of course, I’ll be happy to sign them if you’d like.

In other news, I’m just back from a few days in Crete where I went to get some peace and quiet to edit book 3 (for more details watch this space.) It was the end of the season and things were very quiet which was perfect for my purposes but a little bit eerie nonetheless. Here’s the plane as I flew over Europe. Talk about a private jet!

 

As well as putting the finishing touches to the book I also learned:

that the sun in Greece in November is the perfect temperature for writing outside;
that I am happy in my own company for three nights;
that mealtimes are easiest if you have a book;
that no one likes to ask a middle-aged woman exactly what she is doing on her own in a holiday hotel!

Honestly, no one spoke to me or asked me why I was sitting at the pool bar on my laptop from dawn until dusk. It was quite funny. I think I would have been curious!

It’s all pretty busy here too. My younger two children are in their dance school’s show at the end of the month and my youngest will also be dancing in the Northern Ballet’s production of Nutcracker. Meanwhile, I have radio interviews, a blog tour and various other PR events in my diary. Just today I did an interview with the wonderful model Rachel Peru for her podcast Out of the Bubble. Rachel, like me, has found success in a new career later in life and is embracing it wholeheartedly. Her podcast is inspiring and uplifting. You can listen to it here.

After several faltering steps my Newsletter now lives and breathes so if you would like to sign up to receive that then just click here and put your email address in the box. Next month’s newsletter will contain some exciting news about book 3 and you wouldn’t want to miss that.

That’s all for now. I have to race off to take my children to the dentist and pick up something to cook for tea ( just in case you thought it was all excitement and glamour around here.)

Lovely to chat. Speak again soon,

Best wishes

 

 

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Bestsellers, skulls and orang-utans!

Hi

Well what a month it’s been!

Postcards was published on 7th August and since then it has flown to the top of the kindle charts in both the UK and Australia hitting the coveted Number 1 spot in both. I’ve also had lots of lovely reviews and so now I finally feel like I am a real author. That may sound silly but it’s been a long journey for me to make that mental leap I can tell you!

Eggs for breakfast.

Mainly though I’ve been travelling. I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Borneo with my family. It was such an experience. As well as seeing lots of wildlife, including the fascinating orang-utans, we also had the chance to stay the night with some families of the Iban tribe. They still live a simple life in wooden longhouses, farming for their own needs and selling what they can. Their days of headhunting are mercifully behind them now although we did have a go with a blow pipe and there were skulls hanging eerily in the eaves.

The Iban longhouse

 

 

 

 

Then this week I have been in Lisbon settling my second daughter into her Erasmus year at the university there. It was a first trip to the city for us both and we were struck by its vibrancy and colour. I particularly liked the tiled buildings and, of course, the trams. I may have to set a story there!

So now I’m back home with no plans for further travel for a month or so which is great as I need to get the manuscript for my third book delivered to my editor very soon. I’ve been working hard on it over the summer and I’m really enjoying spending time with my new characters as I get to know them.

As usual please get in touch if you’d like. You can find me mainly on Facebook and Instagram ( although I do loiter elsewhere) and don’t forget to join my Book Café if you like chatting about what you’ve read and finding recommendations for what to try next.

Happy reading,

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