Linda Parkinson-Hardman's Blog, page 9

In conversation with Jenny Rossiter, author of The Freedom Bus

Jenny Rossiter first joined me on this blog back in 2012 with her book The Masks that Men Wear. Since then much has changed in her life and business. In her latest book, a memoir called The Freedom Bus from adoptee to true self Jenny combines her heart-warming story with her professional expertise, calling on her experience as a psychiatric nurse and lessons from corporate life, while drawing parallels as a single mother and successful business owner.

As an adoptee, she unveils her story from r...

Baking biscuits

Susan was reflective cutting the perfect snowflake biscuits. Sometimes all it took was a sprinkle of magic and sugar dusting to wash away the cares of the day.

Slotting the trays into the oven she leaned back against the marble coffee in hand, watching as they turned from cream to golden. She wondered how Paul would react when she told him. Hopefully, hearing the news over a plate of his favourite biscuits would make it easier.

The timer pinged, ten minutes and all done! Her inner creative spran...

The art of being human in the 21st century

If you search ‘digital intelligence’ in a search engine you will find that, broadly, it is either a “new type of intelligence that combines knowledge, ways of knowing, and the ability to interact effectively in a cultural or community setting” 1 or something to do with big data, marketing, and strategy.

These definitions ignore our essential humanity moving the playground of our digital lives firmly into the school room of skills, abilities, and knowledge.

They also assume something fundamental ...

How to save the planet

Let’s be honest, when we talk about saving the planet we don’t really mean the planet. After all the planet will look after itself, it has for the billions of years it’s already been around. We don’t even really mean how to save the amazing, glorious, generous ecosystem that is nature. What we really mean is how do we save ourselves!

Somehow we’ve divorced ourselves from both the planet and nature. It’s as if we see our planet as a pyramid with us at the top, lording it over everything else belo...

Living in the dream

‘Dermot, Dermot’. I tug at his shirt urgently, trying to get his attention.

‘Yes?’ He glances at me and smiles.

‘Dermot, what if I told you all this,’ I wave my arms around expansively to indicate the enormity of what I’m about to say, ‘is not real, that it’s all just a dream.’

I finish breathless and cock my head on one side waiting for his astonished reaction.

‘Piffle’, he says, and I realise he’s referring to the book he was reading.

A beat later he looks up and smiles.

‘Go on then spud, tell...

Hysteria 8 launch event and winners announcements

Well, what an evening. It was the first time I’ve ever held a launch event for a book, let alone an anthology for the Hysteria Writing Competition. And it was the most fun. With my special guests and friends helping out, together with a few technical (no make that human glitches) we got through it and the feedback from attendees was that they enjoyed it too.

The point of the launch was to announce all the winners of the categories and the Guess the Cover competition. And the winners also had the...

Hysteria 8 online launch party

7 pm on 2nd December 2021 saw a bigger group than I’d imagined coming together on Teams to celebrate the launch of the Hysteria 8 anthology containing all 30 long-listed entries over three categories in the Hysteria Writing Competition 2021.

I and the audience were joined online by a cast of almost thousands, well seven anyway; three of my closest friends (including my husband) who are all Distinguished Toastmasters, and three of the amazing reading team who read and judged all the entries.

Each...

The 07:32 from Pen Mill

Sitting on the 07.32 from Pen Mill going to a meeting in Bristol I marvel at the things people still do to earn a living and count myself lucky to work at home. I never endure the daily commute amongst people intent only on getting to work (and back again). On the infrequent occasions, I happen to find myself amongst them, it’s now treat not trial.

I’m aware this line has benefits those stuck on the tube in London will never know. It is truly beautiful, and I watch my fellow travellers, wonderin...

Hysteria Writing Competition 2021 finalists

The long list of finalists for each category in this year’s Hysteria Writing Competition is below. You can also take part in the annual Guess the Cover competition for a chance to win a fun prize when the category winners are also announced.

To enter the competition just leave a comment on this blog post with your best guess at which story, flash fiction or poem is represented by the cover image shown at the end of the post.

The Hysteria 8 anthology is available to purchase now and will be dispa...

Managing change by shaking off and stepping up

The phrase “change is the only constant” has never been more apt than in the current environment where we constantly hear stories about cuts, increased overheads and competitive pressures. How we deal with change will determine our future success.

Last week I was sent an email by a friend who was informing me, that for various reasons, he was leaving his employment and looking for a new challenge. In the message he sent he shared a powerful metaphor that sums up the attitudes that can be extrem...